Quote the Raven
by xzotic
Summary: Changed and updated the old chapters. Can't move forward until I clean up a little bit of the old mess. AU storyline! Raven's new neighbors are flipping her world upside down... bad enough that she has an overprotective Robin on her case....
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**None of the characters belong to me… just the plot.

**Important to Know Before You Read:**Since this is an alternate universe fiction, some of the names are slightly changed. Mainly, Cyborg is called Simon Green. Also, Beast Boy's name is Logan Garfield rather than Garfield Logan only because I like calling him 'Logan.' Dick Grayson is living under Bruce Wayne's roof mainly because he's still a minor and in school but also because I LOVE Brucey Bruce! Other than that, I hope you all enjoy the plot.

**Chapter 1:**

The sun was just setting outside of Raven Roth's bedroom window when she finally dragged her sore and battered body through her door. With determination and not a few pained gasps, she made it to her queen-sized bed and collapsed.

She was beyond feeling about her current situation and she knew she had no more tears left to cry. Her father was drunk… again. And he had taken his rage out on her… again. So what was new? Despite these thoughts, Raven could feel a lone tear leak down the side of her face. The salty tear stung as it traversed over an open wound on her cheekbone but she was far too weak to do anything about that just then.

A few years ago, Raven would have been sobbing pathetically, saying her prayers, and asking God why her mother had to leave her here. It didn't take long for her to become disgusted with her weakness, though. Now, she fought back to the best of her abilities and took her beatings with all the dignity that the situation could afford her. She could take care of herself. Her father could only hurt her so much now.

Sighing exhaustedly, Raven curled up on her side and felt her eyes drift shut. Summer break was almost over. In a few days, school would start up and she would barely even see her father's face as much. Ironically, Daemon Roth was a county police officer that usually worked the night shift. Raven didn't have to deal with him as much during the school year and since this would be her last year in high school; she also had college to look forward to. She would never have to see her sorry excuse for a father again after this year.

* * *

Dick Grayson watched worriedly as the great grandfather clock in the grand foyer struck 8:00 pm.

"I don't think she's coming today, Robin."

The teenager looked over to see his adopted father observing him from the parlor door. Dick's eyebrows drew together over his dark gray eyes. "That no-good father of hers has probably done something to her… _again_!" he seethed.

Billionaire Bruce Wayne sighed helplessly and continued to study the countenance of his young charge. "Regardless of what has or has not happened to her, you know she doesn't want your pity or your interference in her affairs. Raven can handle herself for now. But you need to forget about that and start today's training without her. Just because we've had a nice long reprieve from fighting doesn't mean we can afford to slack off."

Robin watched in silent anger as the old bat turned back to his parlor. How was he supposed to just _ignore_ the fact that his best friend was constantly being beaten to a pulp by her worthless father? Raven didn't deserve what she was going through. His one and only friend was the kindest and most sincere person he had ever met.

If there were anything he could do to relieve her pain he'd do it in an instant. But he could never think of anything and that's what really made him feel so useless and angry. And Bruce's calm acceptance of the matter didn't help _at all_.

Shoving his hands in the pockets of his track pants, the boy wonder took off for the training room and a nice long session with his favorite punching bag.

* * *

Because she fell asleep so early the previous night, Raven awoke extra early the next morning. The sun hadn't even peaked up yet when she stretched and arched her back, testing the soreness of her limbs. Satisfied that the pain was bearable, she slowly stood and made her way to her en suite bathroom for a cold shower to further numb the pain.

As she was shampooing her hair and thinking of the day's agenda, she silently cursed as she suddenly recalled her missed appointment with Robin the night before. Great, she seethed, now he'll be all worried and upset when I see him today.

She finished her shower, did the rest of her morning toiletries while wrapped in a fluffy towel, and then walked back to her room to dress for the day. As she walked into her bedroom she glanced out the window, as usual, to see the early morning sun and paused as she noticed something unusual. There was a large moving truck parked in front of the house next door and several people were busy moving boxes and furniture back and forth through the front door.

Raven frowned. Apparently someone had finally bought old lady Mabel's mansion. Joy, Raven thought sarcastically. She moved away from the window, disinterestedly, and went about finding something to wear.

A half hour later, Raven finally left her bedroom only to hear the doorbell ring. Her father wouldn't be home from work until around 11 am so she quickly descended the stairs to see who it was. Peeping through the peephole, she rolled her eyes upon seeing the familiar face on the other side of the door. She swung open the door and gave a fake smile.

"What brings you to my humble abode?" she deadpanned as Robin glared at her.

"Where is he?"

"At work," she answered, not even trying to pretend she didn't know whom he was talking about.

Robin observed the slightly purpled flesh over his best friend's right cheekbone and felt his blood boil. "That coward," he seethed.

"Robin, I'm sure my father didn't go into work just so he could avoid your wrath."

"Quit with the sarcasm, Raven, this is serious!" Robin shouted.

Raven paused in panic as she noticed a few heads from the movers next-door turning in their direction. She quickly grabbed Robin's wrist and pulled him into the house, slamming the door shut behind them.

"Are you trying to let the whole _world_ know about my business?" she demanded.

"Raven I--"

"No!" Raven cut him off angrily. "Robin this is none of your concern! The only reason you even _know_ about this is because you couldn't quit snooping around!" She poked him in the chest accusingly for emphasis. "Now, I'll ask you for the last time to just _leave this alone_!"

Robin glared but said nothing.

Satisfied, Raven put her hands on her hips. "I'm just about to make breakfast, do you want any?" she asked nonchalantly.

"No," he answered in a somewhat sulking tone, "thanks."

Raven twirled on her heel and headed for the kitchen, a still-despondent Dick Grayson following her slowly.

* * *

"YO! BB! Get your ass over here before I drop this box!"

"I've got it, Cy!" an enthusiastic voice answered.

Suddenly, the large, muscular teenager found the entire weight lifted from his shoulders and he looked up to see a tall, slim-but-slightly-muscular teenaged girl lifting the box he'd been struggling with in two petite hands. She had a bright smile on her face and it didn't look as though it was straining her at all to carry the 150 lbs box.

"Uh… thanks, Star," Simon Green replied nervously.

"Of course, brother Cy," the stunning amazon answered with a sunny smile.

Cy watched, disturbed, as his adopted sister turned and walked back to their new house. He didn't even notice the teenaged boy that popped out of the back of the truck.

"Dude!" the boy shouted, shocking Simon out of his stupor. "You called me?"

"BB! Man, our new sister is downright _freaky_!" he stage-whispered with wide eyes.

Logan Garfield, fondly known as Beast Boy due to his infamous canines that were visible whenever he smiled, blinked at his adopted brother of seven years. "Dude," he finally answered, "that's our _sister_!"

Simon knocked the disgusted look off of Beast Boy's face in outrage. "Not like that, you idiot! I mean she's not normal!"

"Oh." Logan rubbed the side of his face where he'd been punched and looked towards the house as their new sister, Star Tamarania, happily skipped out of the front door.

"Brother Logan, Mother asks if you think we can finish the unloading of the truck before lunchtime," Star asked as she skipped up to them.

"Ummm… yeah," Logan answered dazedly.

"Glorious!" she exclaimed. "Then we can have our first meal together in our new home!"

Cy and Logan merely gaped at her in wonderment. Oblivious, Star hopped onto the truck and picked up another heavy box with the ease of a gladiator and a sunny smile.

As she skipped back into the house, Logan turned to his brother slowly. "I think I see what you mean."

"Yeah...."

* * *

Life as Moira G. O'Connell was rather extraordinary. As a multimillion-dollar fashion designer, she had plenty of money to toss around and her softest spot was for troubled kids. As a widowed and barren middle-aged woman with no love interest to speak of, her obvious choice was to adopt.

She started out with Logan Garfield. He had only been five when she'd picked him up from the streets in New York City where she'd originally ran her first business. Logan was half Native American from his mother and half Irish and he had the most searing emerald green eyes she'd ever seen. She had instantly fallen in love with him and she hadn't let him go since.

Five years later, after she and Logan had moved to California, they met Simon Green. His parents had died in a plane crash and the rest of his family had turned him away so he'd been stuck in a foster home that he hated. One day he ran away and by chance (miracle is what Moira calls it), he ended up running straight to them. Logan and Simon instantly took to each other and, again, Moira didn't want to let go.

Now, Moira's latest charge, Star Tamarania, was an especially unique individual. Moira met Star in a convent when visiting a friend. The story that Moira's friend told her was that Star had been abandoned on the steps of the nunnery as a child and had lived with them ever since. Star wanted to explore the world, though, and meet other kids her age and Moira simply adored her purity of character. The next day, Star happily joined the family.

Sitting at the round kitchen table and watching fondly as her children talked excitedly of their new home, Moira couldn't help but to smile softly.

Logan noticed this, however, and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "What is it, mom?" he asked around the bite of tofu burger in his mouth.

Simon and Star looked at her as well.

"It just feels so good being together like this," she answered with a little sigh of contentment. All three youthful faces lit up with smiles at this and she turned back to her meal.

"Soon you all will be going off to college, starting your careers, and living on your own," she stated, trying to keep the sadness out of her voice.

"Aw, we have a whole year before any of that comes up," Simon declared with a wave of his hand.

"Yeah, and we won't be leaving you behind or anything, mom," Logan assured her.

Teary-eyed, Star clasped her hands together and nodded vigorously. "It would be most distressing if I had to let go of this family so soon after finding it."

Moira's face lit up in a brilliant smile as she rubbed the wetness from her eyes. "Oh, stop trying to make me cry!" she lightly protested.

With a toothy grin that showed off his sharp canines, Logan patted her on the shoulder. "Sorry, mom, but you're stuck with us for a _long_ time."

They all shared a small laugh before eventually finishing their lunch together.

"Alright," Moira exclaimed as she stood up with renewed vigor. "We're finished unloading the truck but we still have lots of work to do. I want to get this done before you kids have to go off to school next week."

"Mo-om! We're not _kids_ anymore!" Logan protested with an indignant pout.

"Whatever you say sweety. Now I want you and Simon to work on getting this kitchen in order. Unpack all of the pots, pans, silverware, utensils, and all of the boxes marked kitchen- that should be the blue tag- by four o'clock.

"Star and I will take the library and the sitting rooms. And at four we can all finish the day by working on our own rooms upstairs. Deal?"

"Glorious!"

"Got it!"

"No prob!"

The four of them set off to work.

* * *

Raven had gone with Robin to his manor since 10 in the morning to avoid her father for the day. Of course, she'd left a note and a reachable number to avoid getting into trouble for it. School and Robin's home were the only two places she was allowed to go without first seeking permission. Having a best friend whose father was Bruce Wayne had its merits.

"Come at me with just your fists this time," Robin ordered her. They were standing in a boxing ring with extra padded floors and Raven was wearing boxing gloves and a padded helmet. Robin had been teaching her how to defend herself ever since he'd found out her secret two and a half years ago. Her greatest strength was in her legs but he frequently insisted on strengthening her arms as well.

She lunged at him with all of her momentum and swung high at his face. As usual, Robin seemed to glide out of the way with little effort. She caught her balance and swung again and again with determination. Robin eased his body out of the way of each blow with his hands clamped behind his back.

"That was good," he stated when she ran out of energy.

"How…" she gasped out, trying to catch her breath, "how could that possibly have been 'good' when I didn't even touch you?"

"The point isn't for you to be able to _hit_ me," he answered as though that were obvious. "I mean… I'm _Robin_!"

Raven stared at him blandly, still breathing harder than normal. "Should I leave you alone with yourself?" she deadpanned.

"The point is for you to push the limits of your speed and stamina," Robin continued, blithely ignoring her sarcasm. "Already, I can tell that you are much faster than the average crooks that I chase down. And that's definitely improvement, considering your skinny arms and legs."

"Hey, I don't make fun of your embarrassing haircut or feminine eyelashes so don't talk about my skinny arms or legs!"

Robin grinned at her, a small dimple appearing in his left cheek. "Whatever you say, Gumby."

Raven aimed a swift kick that, surprisingly, connected with his right shin. Robin let loose an imaginative string of curses that made her blush.

"I thought you would block that!" she exclaimed with a red face. "What happened to the 'nobody-can-touch-me-cause-I'm-_Robin_' attitude?"

Robin hopped around for a minute before turning to glare at her.

"I'm sorry!" she said sincerely, not wanting him to be angry with her.

He stared at her for a minute longer before letting his anger loose with a long sigh. He peaked at his watch and then looked back at her reluctantly. "It's after 8:30… I should get you home before--"

"Yeah," Raven interrupted him, "That's fine."

They left the training room and headed for the garage. Alfred, the family butler and close friend, stopped them on the way to give Raven a bag in which he'd already packed away her supper for the night.

"Take care Miss Roth," he smiled kindly at her, "It's always a pleasure to see you."

"Thank you so much, Alfred." She smiled back at him hesitantly.

She and Robin entered the garage and walked down the many rows of cars and bikes until they came to Robin's little monster. It was a Suzuki Hayabusa in all black with a red design and gold trim. It was the one and only mode of transportation that Dick Grayson used on a regular basis. He hopped on and handed Raven his black helmet as he took the red.

Raven inhaled slowly and exhaled before putting on the helmet and climbing on behind him.

"Hold on," Robin warned her as if she wasn't already clutching onto him for dear life. He revved the powerful engine before taking off like a bat out of hell, Raven saying her silent prayers with her eyes clutched tight.

Wayne Manor was only a twenty-minute walk from Raven's home, but on Robin's bike, they seemed to get there in less than two. He pulled up into her circular driveway with his bike rumbling loudly. Raven was only too happy to discard the helmet and hop off of the monstrosity that her friend called a mode of transportation.

"Do you need me to escort you inside?" Robin asked her over the sound of his engine.

Raven gave him a dubious glance as she turned to him. "I think you're confusing me with a damsel in distress, oh wondrous knight." She gave him a fake curtsy before turning back to the walkway that led to her front door.

Robin revved the engine twice before cutting it off and following her to the door. She paused for a moment before turning to look back at him expectantly.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Escorting you, milady," he teased. When she pierced him with one of her deadly glares he turned to placating tones. "Look, Raven, why would I just drive off when my mere presence can spare you from having to deal with that _jerk_?"

Raven sighed and placed her hand on her hips, effectively blocking him from her front door. "Robin, I appreciate your concern," she began in an irritated voice, "I truly do. But if you don't turn around and hop back on that thing you call a bike, I swear I'm going to choke you to death!"

"Why do you have to be so stubborn about this?" he demanded, anger and frustration evident on his face. "All you have to do is say the word and Bruce and I can swoop you out of this entire situation!"

"I'm not a charity case, you brute!" she yelled. "My life isn't as terrible as you think it is!"

"Your father doesn't deserve you!"

Raven glared into his stormy gray eyes. "Robin," she said quietly, "my father and I have both been through a lot." She ignored his reflexive eye roll. "He's not a joy to be around but it's not like he takes it out on me _every_ day. I can handle the occasional tantrum."

Robin gaped at her as though she'd gone insane.

"I'm not budging from my stance on this, Robin. And, I quote, 'Leave. It. Alone.'"

Robin watched as her dark hair swirled in the evening breeze and her amethyst eyes sparkled defiantly behind her fringe. "At least let me escort you inside," he murmured. "I promise I'll leave as soon as you are safely in your room."

Raven watched him for a minute, tempted to just give him that little bit of leeway. Then she glanced up and saw someone standing in the front yard next door… staring directly at them. Her eyes narrowed to slits and she swung around, angrily ignoring Robin's pleading look. "Good _night_, Robin!" she growled as she unlocked her front door and closed it soundly behind her.

Wondering what had made her so upset, Robin glanced behind him to see a dark-skinned, muscular teenager standing in the next yard and eyeing his bike. He looked once more at the closed front door of his best friend's house before giving a frustrated sound and turning to leave.

Cy watched with fascination as the guy next door hopped on the Suzuki Hayabusa and revved it a few times before flying off down the road.

"I have _got_ to get me one of those!" he whispered fervently to himself.

**A/N**:This is my very first publicized piece of work and I'm definitely not a professional or anything so I know that there must be mistakes. Lay it on me. I enjoy the criticism so let me know what you think. If I feel as though it's a disaster, I might leave it alone. Otherwise, I'll be working on the next chapters whenever the writing bug bites.


	2. Chapter 2

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* * *

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Chapter 2

Logan Garfield emerged from his bedroom with a mischievous grin on his handsome face. He was immensely excited about his new life. It was a new day, a new city, and a new home that he'd only been living in for two full days. What better way to celebrate all of these new things than to irk the hell out of his adopted siblings?

He crept down the spacious hall to the door on his left and silently opened it a crack. He peeked through to see Cy snoring away in the middle of his queen-sized bed. With another wicked grin, Logan tossed a suspicious object into the room and quietly closed the door behind him before tearing off down the stairs and heading for the kitchen.

He paused just before reaching the kitchen, and walked nonchalantly through the doorway to greet his mother and sister.

"Morning, mom. Morning, Star."

Star turned from her watchful position beside Moira at the cooking island. "Good morning, brother Beast Boy!" she exclaimed with another one of her brilliant smiles. Cy had gotten her into the habit of calling them by their nicknames.

Logan slipped into a seat at the kitchen table and unobtrusively placed another suspicious object onto one of the other seats when Star turned back around.

"Morning, sweety," Moira answered in a singsong voice as she cast Beast Boy a knowing look over her shoulder.

"What are you making, mom?" he asked with an innocent grin.

With a shake of the head, she turned back to her work with a smile. "Hash browns, tea cakes, and scrambled eggs."

"Mmm, sounds great," Beast Boy sighed happily as he surreptitiously checked his silver wristwatch.

"You sure you don't want just the egg whites, sweety?" Moira asked.

"Nah… yoke is-"

The rest of Logan's answer was cut off when a loud and angry yell reverberated through the house. Moira watched suspiciously as Logan tried unsuccessfully to hide an evil smirk.

Moments later, Cy came storming down the stairs and tore through the kitchen with his eyes wide and searching.

"YOU!" he shouted when he spotted Logan sitting nonchalantly at the kitchen table.

"Why good morning, Cy, did you sleep well?" Logan asked innocently.

Cy marched up to him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt with both hands. "You laid a _stink bomb_ in my _room_!" he growled.

Moira and Star erupted into fits of laughter at the amusing scene. Logan remained calm and deceptively mystified. "Now why would I _ever_ do such a thing?" he asked serenely.

Cy leaned in close and shook Logan by his collar in annoyance. "If I catch you with another one of those gag toys I'm gonna beat the crap out of you!"

Logan sniffed the air in front of him a little and gagged. "Dude! You definitely need a shower! What is that _smell_?"

With a loud growl, Cy shoved the offending prankster away and stormed out of the kitchen. It wasn't until the door slammed upstairs that Logan Garfield cracked his mask of nonchalance and almost fell out of his seat with laughter.

"Logan that was not very nice," Moira admonished. The small smile on her face betrayed otherwise, however. She set a dish of hash browns and a platter of scrambled eggs in the center of the table and Star followed with a basket of teacakes and a hot pot of tea.

"You're right mom," Logan answered with a straight face, "I should really apologize for such juvenile behavior. It won't happen again. I promise!"

Moira eyed him suspiciously but took her seat. But as Star went to take her seat with a serene smile, a sudden elongated sound punctured the silence. It was a loud emission of gas originating from the seat of Star's chair.

Star blinked her eyes a few times, too shocked to react, and Moira simply gaped speechlessly at her.

After a moment of silence, Logan erupted into another fit of laughter.

"Umm… excuse me?" Star murmured, not knowing what else to say.

"Beast Boy!" Moira shouted accusingly. "What did I tell you about whoopee cushions at the table?"

* * *

It had been a mistake to assume that Daemon Roth would not come after her two nights in a row. As if it had never happened before, right? Raven scoffed at herself as she allowed the showerhead to spray hot water over her bruised eye. Apparently the guys at work had been ribbing Daemon once again about his runaway wife.

_You're a corpse! Just like your fucking mother!_ She still heard his words screaming in her ears as the blows came at her. _A waste of life! You don't even have the capacity to feel anything! An emotionless, useless waste! Probably can't even do anything right! Look at you!_ _No wonder your mother left!_

Raven slowly stepped out of the shower and wrapped a fluffy towel around her body. Robin was probably already on his way. She wasn't looking forward to coming up with more explanations for him.

With a sigh, she went about her morning routine before exiting the steaming bathroom and glancing out of her bedroom window. In the yard next door, three teenagers about her age were chasing each other around. Two of them were spraying each other with large water guns while the other one, a female redhead, was lobbing bright water balloons every which way.

"I despise happy people," she mumbled absently. She turned away from the window and went about getting ready for the day. She was in the middle of zipping up a pair of snug, faded blue jeans when the door chime rang through the house. Glancing in the mirror at the purpled flesh surrounding her left eye and the day old bruise that was still healing just below it, Raven sighed. It was starting to feel like life would be easier if she had no friends at all.

Straightening her back, she walked purposefully – if a little stiffly - out of her suite and down the stairs to the front door. Without looking through the peephole, she swung open the door, prepared to stand her ground against the boy wonder.

Simon Green stared in total shock at the very visible bruises marring the left side of the petite girl's face. He had been prepared to give a friendly 'hello' and introduce himself as a new neighbor but all of that went flying out the window of his brain when he took in the astonishing sight.

Raven gaped at him like a bubble-eyed fish for five whole seconds before immediately slamming the door in the stranger's face. Her heart was pounding in her chest at the realization of what that guy had just seen. "Shit!"

* * *

Logan watched in confusion as Cy walked slowly over to them. There was a disturbed and contemplative look on his face. Star noticed as well and forgot all about learning how to use a super soaker.

"Are you alright, brother?" she asked with genuine concern.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he mumbled distractedly, plopping down on the red brick steps that lead to their front door. "Our neighbor's not, though."

"What do you mean?" Logan asked, taking a seat next to him.

"The whole left side of this girl's face was bruised."

Star gasped in horror. She had seen her fair share of beaten women who showed up at the nunnery. "What happened?" she asked, taking the seat on Cy's other side.

"I don't know," he sighed, "she slammed the door right in my face. I guess she was expecting it to be someone else."

Logan looked over at their neighbor's house with an absent expression.

"Do you think someone should try talking to her?" Cy asked after a moment of silence.

"No," Logan answered, turning back to him. "I doubt she'd appreciate us butting into her business. And there could be any number of reasons for a person's face to be bruised."

"Such as?" Cy said doubtfully.

"She could've had a nasty fall or she might be taking self-defense and someone accidentally swung at her," Logan argued. "We could be jumping to conclusions."

"BB, you know that's bull! Nine times out of ten those reasons are never the case. That girl is getting abused by someone!"

A loud engine suddenly disturbed the silence of the residential area. All of a sudden, a huge bike came pealing around the corner and sped into the circular driveway of the same next-door neighbor they'd been talking about. A tall, muscular teen who looked about their age revved the engine of his impressive bike two times before cutting it off.

"That's the same guy I saw yelling at her the other day," Cy seethed with narrowed eyes. "When we were moving in. He was shouting at her and she pulled him inside when she saw me looking."

"Okay, _now_ you're jumping to conclusions," Logan stated.

"He was _also_ there last night," Cy continued, "and she looked pretty upset with him then, too."

"It could have been anything," Beast Boy argued, "Including whatever happened to her face."

Despite Beast Boy's statement, both Cy and Star glared over at the mysterious boy and watched him march up to the front door. After ringing the doorbell and not receiving an answer, the boy proceeded to pound his fist against the elegant French-style door in apparent anger. A few minutes later the door swung open and the boy stormed into the house, slamming the door shut behind him.

"I can not in good conscious simply ignore the knowledge that someone so close by could be suffering," Star suddenly declared. "I'm going over."

"What? No!" Beast Boy watched in shock as she stood resolutely. "You could get in trouble!"

"I'm willing to risk it to make sure," she answered over her shoulder.

Cy stood to follow her. "I'll come too," he piped.

"No, it is better if I go alone," she waved him off. "Less imposing this way. Do not worry, I can take care of myself." With that, she crossed the two yards and headed for their neighbor's door.

* * *

"Raven I'm not kidding this time. Something has to be done about this!" Robin was gently holding his friend's chin in place as he carefully looked over the new bruise covering her left eye.

"Something _will_ be done," Raven muttered caustically, "when I leave for college."

Robin sighed and shook his head. "I might have some ointment back at the manor that'll help this heal faster," he offered. "Do you want to come spend the-"

The doorbell interrupted his question and Raven gave a strange little yelp at the sound.

"Are you expecting someone?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't answer it!" Raven shouted when she noticed him moving to the door.

Surprised, he looked back at her worried face. "Why?" he demanded with narrowed eyes.

"B-because," she answered nervously.

Robin turned and peeked through the peephole out of curiosity. "It's just a girl," he stated. He took in the red hair and bright green eyes. "She's kinda cute, too."

"Robin do _not_ open that door!" Raven growled. "I don't want anyone to see this giant bruise on my face!"

"Relax, Ray," he soothed. "My bike's outside so she must know someone's home. Just go upstairs and I'll handle this."

Raising an eyebrow in consideration, Raven listened as the doorbell rang again. "Alright," she finally answered, "but get rid of her as fast as you can."

Robin jokingly raised two fingers in salute. "Hero's honor," he grinned.

Raven rolled her eyes but slowly moved to the staircase and ascended to the balcony above. Casting one last worried look at her best friend, who gave her another reassuring smile as the doorbell rang again, she turned and walked to her suite.

Once she was out of sight, Robin undid the locks and opened the door.

"Hi there," he greeted with a charming grin.

Star was slightly taken aback. She had been expecting the girl that lived there to answer the door. She had not been prepared to face a tall, handsome teenaged boy with deep gray eyes and an adorable dimple. "Umm… hi," she murmured.

"Can I help you?" Robin asked.

Star cleared her throat and decided to focus on the serious matter at hand. This 'handsome' teenager was the number one suspect, after all. "I was looking for the girl that lives here," she stated with just a touch of righteous fury in her voice and posture.

Robin raised an eyebrow in surprise. "O-kay," he answered slowly, "well she's upstairs doing something so what can I do for you?"

Star's eyes narrowed. Maybe she would get somewhere with the direct approach. "My brother rang the doorbell earlier and he said a girl answered with the whole left side of her face covered in bruises," she stated.

Robin's eyes widened in realization. "What?"

"We are her new neighbors. Cy wanted to go around giving friendly introductions but he came back very distraught and told us what happened. So then I was worried when I saw you pull up on that loud motorcycle and I came to see if the girl was alright and make sure that you were not the cause of her condition because-" Star took a much needed breath in the middle of her righteous rant. "That is just _terrible_ to do something like that!" she finished indignantly.

Robin blinked at the girl's blunt accusation but shook himself to focus on the important issue. "I haven't _done_ anything to her," he stated clearly, "except help."

"Then her bruises weren't caused by another person?" Star asked in wonderment. Could Beast Boy have possibly been right?

Robin glanced over his shoulder apprehensively before turning back to the strange girl with a sigh. "Look. Raven would kill me if she ever found out we were having this conversation. She's a _very_ private person."

"That is understandable. I am just glad that she is all right. We were very concerned."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate that," Robin grinned. He knew secretly that Raven would be very annoyed, if anything.

"I am sorry if I offended you…" Star trailed off with a blush when she realized that she hadn't even been polite enough to ask his name.

Robin's grin widened in amusement. "The name's Richard Grayson. I'm Raven's best friend, practically family. And your name is?"

"Ko— I mean," Star cleared her throat nervously, "My name is Star Tamarania."

Robin raised an eyebrow at the slight stumble, wondering if she had just given him a fake name. "That's a very unique last name you have."

"Umm, thank you. It was a pleasure to meet you Mr. Grayson. Sorry to have bothered you, though."

"Pleasure to meet you too Star. Stop by anytime."

Robin watched her give a last hesitant-yet-genuine smile and descended the doorsteps before crossing back over to her yard. She had to have been the single-most gorgeous creature he had ever seen. A tall, slim and solid frame; flaming red hair that glistened in the sunlight; and the most beautiful green doe-eyes he had ever laid eyes on. If only he had the time to pursue a girl like that, he thought with a slightly melancholy sigh. As it was, Robin had other, much bigger obligations. And an annoying bat to constantly remind him of those.

He resolutely shut the door and climbed the extravagant stairway that led to the bedrooms. When he pushed open Raven's door, he was only slightly surprised to see her sitting in the middle of her oversized bed with her legs folded elegantly in the lotus position and her body completely relaxed.

Raven had once told him that meditation was the only way she was able to keep a firm hold on her sanity. Despite her situation, she said, she did not want to lose her self-identity.

Robin smiled fondly at her and decided to wait until she opened her eyes. He leaned his weight against the doorjamb and simply watched. Almost ten minutes later, the dark-haired beauty finally blinked her eyes open and stared at him.

"Why didn't you tell me you were standing there?"

"How could I interrupt?" He watched her slide gingerly off the bed and wondered suddenly if there were other areas of her body that were as badly bruised as her lovely face. The thought instantly re-ignited his anger and Robin found himself compulsively clenching his fists.

"I can't believe school is starting in two days," Raven commented, oblivious to his sudden peak in emotion. "I survived another summer," she said with a sardonic smile.

"Don't," Robin ordered with a severe tone. Raven simply rolled her eyes.

"Put some shoes on. I'm taking you to the manor for those ointments."

Raven merely shrugged and slowly walked over to her closet. "I suppose we should be able to find only the best in a billionaire's mansion."

Despite her careful movement and her weak attempt at humor, Robin detected an obvious stiffness in the way she carried herself. "Raven," he asked, gently grabbing her shoulder before she could slip on a pair of shoes, "Where else did he hurt you?"

There was an uncomfortable pause for a moment before Raven suddenly let out a strained laugh. "This isn't one of those moments where we talk about our emotions and start crying and hugging, is it?" she asked with complete sarcasm. "Seriously, Robin, I had no idea you were this in touch with your feminine side."

"Holy _shit_ Raven!" Robin exploded at her. "Is there any possibility whatsoever that you can hold off your snarky remarks _just this once_!"

"What do you want me to do, Robin? I feel like all you ever want from me is to fall apart in your arms so you can feel like the one in control!"

"Is that really what you think I'm trying to do, Raven? You _really_ think that I'm just _that_ damn shallow," he was glowering at her, anger radiating from his body in waves.

"No, I think you're just suffering from the unfortunate circumstance of being _male_ and needing me – the unfortunate female – to act like a complete idiot because you figure I'm too weak to know how to take care of myself or stand up for myself or even _think_ for my cursed self!" Raven was breathing heavily in and out by the time she'd finished her rant and her amethyst eyes were sparking defiantly back at her best friend.

"Okay, fine," Robin drew in a shaky breath. "You want to pretend that I'm the bad guy then that's just fucking fine. I'll be waiting outside. Come out when you're ready."

With that, Robin turned and walked out of the door, down the steps, and through the front door, slamming the door hard enough to shake the entire house.

* * *

"So this – very handsome guy – told you that he wasn't the cause of the girl's injuries and that's it? You believed everything he told you just from that?" Beast Boy asked with obvious skepticism.

"Well I could tell he was speaking truthfully," Star insisted defensively. "I am very good at reading people."

"Uh-huh," Cy dead-panned, "and I'm sure it helped that he was 'very handsome.'"

"He said he was practically _family_," Star stated with emphasis.

"It's the _family_ that's usually the first suspects in an abuse case!"

"Guys!" Beast Boy interrupted. "Look, there's nothing we can do either way so lets just leave it alone."

"Trust me," Cy continued, ignoring his brother completely, "There's only one of two scenarios that's wrong with this girl. Either that pretty boy was telling the truth and someone _else_ is beating up on her – because from what you told us he didn't even deny that – _or_ pretty boy was _lying_, like I suspect he is, and it really _is_ him doing the beating. Either way, I can't stand the results!"

"Look-"

Whatever Beast Boy had been about to say was cut off when they heard a loud door slam from next door. All three siblings looked to see "pretty boy" Richard Grayson storming down the front steps to hop angrily on his bike. The engine revved a few times before the front door opened and closed again and a girl walked slowly over to him.

Beast Boy sucked in a breath when he caught a glimpse of the bruise marring almost the entire left side of her pretty face. The darkness of the bruise was visible even through the layers of concealer she'd tried to hide it with. Logan felt a boiling rage pump through his blood. Who the hell would _do_ that?

They watched as the girl hesitantly climbed onto the back of the bike, put on a black helmet and held on as Richard Grayson pealed out of the driveway.

"You can't tell me that that didn't even look a _little_ suspicious," Cy muttered bitterly.

"I guess you were right, Beast Boy," Star sighed in defeat, "I did not accomplish anything by going there."

Logan remained quiet, his dark green eyes practically burning as he glared at the vacant spot that the couple had just been standing in. As much as Logan had prevailed upon his siblings to not interfere, he found himself strangely ready to hunt down whatever bastard had done that to that girl and redefine the phrase "black and blue."

**A/N:** I guess that writing bug took a while to finally bite me. Damn bugs, when you don't want 'em around, they won't leave you alone and when you actually _want_ them, they're never there. Anywho, I blame the bug for my long wait to update. Let me know how I'm doing with the plot so far.

Oh, and I know that you guys wish I had left the names alone but this is an AU and I exercise the right to change some things... possibly for a very good reason.... (That and I just couldn't stand the thought of calling Beastboy _Garfield_ all the time. I really couldn't!) So please just try to bear with it. Other than that, thank you so much for your critique. It really is helpful to know what you guys think.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

When Robin pulled his Hayabusa into the Roths' circular driveway he was surprised to see Raven waiting patiently on the front steps with her leather satchel in her lap.

Every year Robin exploded at Bruce for forcing him to go to a private school rather than the public city schools but the old bat always brushed his complaints aside. Robin's number one complaint about private school happened to be the preppy gray, black and white uniforms that St. Gabriel students were forced to wear. As he looked at Raven, though, in her plaid and pleated skirt with her neatly ironed and starched white blouse and matching plaid, black-and-gray vest, he began to weigh the pros and cons. How could any straight, red-blooded, teenaged boy _not_ appreciate how great girls looked in pleated skirts and knee-highs?

"Damn. Sorry Raven, I probably should have driven a car. I forgot _all_ about those skirts you girls have to wear."

Raven glared at the obvious smirk plastered on her friend's face. "I bet you did," she muttered. She tossed the shoulder strap of her satchel over her head and slowly walked towards him.

Robin took note that the bruise on her face was barely visible anymore except for a very slight darkening of the pigment but she was still walking very stiff. Alfred had known just what to do for the bruises on her face but Raven had adamantly refused to reveal any other injuries. Robin, still too upset from her accusations, decided to play it her way.

Raven mounted the bike carefully, so as not to flash anything inappropriate, and carefully tucked her skirt around and beneath her thighs. She scooted up closer to Robin's back to further ascertain that her skirt wouldn't fly away before putting on her helmet and finally wrapping her arms securely around the boy wonder's torso.

"If you fly this thing over 60, so help me God, Robin…."

With another smirk, Robin revved the engine twice before peeling out of the driveway and passing the 60 mph mark in 2.9 seconds.

* * *

Cy pulled into the St. Gabriel student parking lot with a look of disgust. "Even the cars here look preppy," he grumbled unhappily.

"Dude! If you complain another word I'm going to _break_ your freakin' windshield!" BB shouted angrily from the backseat of Cy's Honda Ridgeline. "Put your tie on before we get in trouble on our first day!"

"Where's _your_ tie Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes?"

"I'm wearing it, can't you tell?" Logan deadpanned.

Star turned to look at him from the passenger seat with her brows furrowed in confusion. "Actually, brother Beast Boy, I do not see your tie. In fact, your shirt is not buttoned properly according to St. Gallen's dress code standards."

"That's because that stupid tie is made of _wool_! I can't wear _wool_!" Logan exploded. "And it's so _ugly_! Who the hell thought that a wool black and gray plaid-print tie would actually look _good_? And, _dude_, this shirt is practically _choking_ me when I button it all the way! Are they trying to _kill_ me?"

"_Now_ who's complaining?" Cy demanded. He glared into his rearview mirror at his brother as he maneuvered the truck through the jammed parking lot in search of a space. "Man, put your tie on before we _both_ get suspended on our first day."

Grumbling, Beast Boy produced his wrinkled tie from the depths of his right pocket and swung it around his neck. "I don't know how to tie a stupid tie," he muttered with a clear sulk in his tone.

"I shall be happy to help you with it brother Beast Boy," Star suggested, "I used to be excellent at tying ties!"

"Right, because I'm sure you tied a lot of ties at the convent," Cy remarked with a suspicious glance her way. He was distracted, however, when he finally spotted a good park so he missed the look of shock on her face.

Beast Boy didn't miss it though. His eyes narrowed at the deer-caught-in-the-headlights look Star was sporting and he began to wonder if she was hiding something. From what his mother told him and Cy about their new sister, she had been left stranded at that convent around the age of nine with no recollection of her past life. The nurses diagnosed her condition as permanent amnesia after a while but there was no indication as to what caused it.

"You okay there, Star?" he asked.

Star looked back at him and laughed nervously. "Yes, I am quite all right, Beast Boy. I just feel the beginnings of a dreadful headache."

"Boo-Yow!" Cy suddenly exclaimed as he slammed the parking brake in place. He grabbed his backpack and hopped out of the truck enthusiastically. "Who's the man? I _told_ you guys that I'd get us here in time!"

Logan rolled his bright green eyes as he hopped down from the backseat. "Great, now you'll be gloating all day."

"Only way to start the first day," Simon grinned.

"I hope we'll meet new friends," Star commented wistfully as she pulled her simple canvas bag over her shoulders.

Simon activated the alarm to his truck and the three of them followed the throng of students to the enormous six-story building that stretched across twenty acres of land.

"Friends can wait," Simon declared, tying his tie loosely around his neck as he walked. "I hope we meet some new _girls_!"

"Girls are overrated," Logan muttered dismissively.

"Ah, shut it! You're just upset about Terra! Don't start spouting that 'all-girls-are-evil' bullshit again or I _might_ start to think you'd prefer _guys_ instead!"

"Dude!" Logan smacked Simon on the back of the head in outrage.

"Who's Terra?" Star asked them curiously. She smiled serenely at the pair as Simon ruffled Logan's hair in retaliation.

"_Terra_ is BB's one and only flame from freshman year at St. Clark's," Cy answered in a teasing tone while Beast Boy crossed his arms and sulked. "She dumped him cold when we were forced to move in sophomore year. Personally, I never liked her anyhow."

"She didn't _dump_ me, Cy, she…"

"…_yanked_ out his heart!" Cy interrupted Beast Boy's attempt to speak. "She did the cha-cha on that sucker! She meringued across his manhood! She…"

Logan angrily tuned out his noisy brother and just hoped that no one else was paying attention to Simon's rather loud declaration of the most depressing moment of his life. While his siblings were caught up in their amusement over his failed attempt at a relationship, Beast Boy looked over his schedule once more and took the initiative to lead the way to their homeroom.

Although Star's schedule was largely focused on college accredited English and history courses and Simon's focus was in shop and engineering and Logan's in biological and animal sciences, the three of them had somehow managed to end up in the same homeroom for their required foreign language class… French.

"Room 2303… 2303…." He mumbled absently to himself as they walked down the second floor hallway. Behind him, Simon was animatedly explaining the rudimentary laws of a man being involved with an evil, self-obsessed female.

"…From the _start_ BB broke the first, most important law," Cy explained to his vapid listener. "_never_, under _any_ circumstances, give an evil, self-obsessed female your address and phone number!"

Star's eyes were wide with intrigue as Simon shook a finger in her face.

"That crazy chick was calling _every_ second of the _day_! And when she wasn't calling, it was because she was already _there_… in my house! Eating the food out of _my _fridge! And breaking _my_ carefully constructed models! I mean, this crazy a--!"

"Oh look! Room 2303!" Beast Boy shouted loud enough to break into his siblings' diatribe. "Guess you guys will have to continue this _lovely_ conversation some other time! Class starts in ten minutes!"

With that deceptively cheerful announcement, Beast Boy quickly slipped into the classroom before either of his dear siblings could comment. With a sigh of relief, he hastily made his way to the very back and took a seat without paying attention to any of his surroundings.

"Life was much better as an only child," he muttered darkly to himself.

Richard Grayson smirked at his new seatmate. "Glad I don't have that problem."

Beast Boy looked over at him, startled. "Oh… yeah. Dude, let me tell you," he warned as he plopped down in his chair, "even _adopted_ siblings are programmed to get on your last nerves."

Robin chuckled at the new guy's easy sense of humor and politely stuck out his hand. "Hi, I don't think we've met," he greeted, the humor still evident in his voice, "Richard Grayson."

"Logan Garfield… friends call me BB…"

"Yo! BB! Why'd you run off like that!"

"So does my annoying brother," Logan looked up as Cy sauntered up to his desk with Star following nervously behind. "Richard, meet Cy and Star… Cy and Star, meet Richard Grayson."

Star's head popped up in surprise when she heard the name and Cy's jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw the face.

"YOU!" Cy cried in outrage.

Robin's eyes lingered on the familiar pretty face of the redhead from Raven's neighborhood and he felt the excitement wash over him at the prospect of sharing a class with her. But ultimately, his eyes flitted back to the unfamiliar face of the dark, muscular new guy who looked unaccountably angry at him.

"Umm… hi?" he greeted uncertainly. "Have we met?"

Beast Boy glanced between his brother and his new acquaintance curiously. How could Cy possibly know this guy when they'd _just_ moved here? Was he missing something? He looked closer at Richard's face in an attempt to figure it out. He _does_ look kinda familiar, he thought.

Cy looked at his brother with clear exasperation. "_BB!_ This is the guy from… next _door_!" he stage whispered.

"Next door?" BB thought out loud. A moment later his eyes widened in realization. "OH!" he exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Robin's focus had automatically shifted back to the apparently timid red-haired girl.

"You should've told me you were going to St. Gab's. I would have shown you around or something," he smiled.

"Oh. That is very nice of you," Star murmured.

"I can still show you around, if you want. It's important to know where you can find the computer labs, at least. How about if I show you after school?"

"HEY!"

Star and Robin looked up in surprise at Beast Boy's suddenly angry form standing between them.

"Quit flirting with my _sister_, Grayson!" Beast Boy growled. His face was slightly flushed in his outrage and his green eyes were narrowed.

"Hey, I was just trying to be nice, _Garfield_. Why are you overreacting?"

Logan stepped closer to him threateningly. He hated it when people called him by his god-awful last name. "I don't think your _girlfriend_ would appreciate you being so nice to my sister, _Dick_!"

Robin's right eyebrow visibly twitched at the profane use of his name. "What girlfriend, you idiot? I don't know where you get off making assumptions about me but if you step any closer I'll be glad to knock some sense into you!"

Simon cracked his large fists from just behind his brother's back. "Oh, I'd _looove_ to see you try, pal!" he growled dangerously.

"Please! Do not do this, brothers!" Star exclaimed frantically. She grabbed Logan by his bicep in a firm grip before he could advance any further on the insulted Dick Grayson. Meeting eyes with the gray-eyed teen on the receiving end of her brothers' combined tempers, she gave him a serious look.

"I'm sorry," she stated with an evident chill in her tone, "but their hostility comes from their concern for Raven."

"_What_? But I _told_ you I-"

"Yeah, like we'd _really_ believe anything coming from _you_!" Cy scoffed, "You slimy, cowardly little piece of shi-"

"RAV!" Dick suddenly shouted to the front of the room.

Everyone in the classroom suddenly stopped talking and goofing around to stare curiously between the quiet, dark-haired girl sitting quietly in the front row, and the group of teens standing all the way in the back corner of the classroom having an apparently serious fight.

Raven turned in her seat and flashed her best friend an extremely annoyed look. "What is it, Gray? Class starts in two minutes!"

"Just get over here, already!"

Reluctantly, the petite girl stood and slowly walked to the back of the room. She stopped at Robin's side and warily eyed the new teens.

"What's going on?" she demanded quietly.

The rest of the class slowly went back to their own activities with only a few curious glances to the back of the room every once in a while.

Robin cast a pointed glare at all three of his accusers. "I'd like you guys to meet my _best friend_, Raven Roth," he announced in a faux-sweet tone. "Rav, meet your crazy neighbors."

Raven's eyes widened in surprise and as she took a second glance at the dark-skinned boy, she realized that her life had just gotten more complicated than it already was.

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, now that school has started for me I'm going to try to stick to, at least, a monthly update but I really can't promise. Honestly, I would've had this posted sooner if I hadn't lost my flash drive.

Anywho, thanks everyone for your wonderful reviews. It really helps to know what you guys think and I find myself agreeing with most of the criticism. I have several ideas for this piece, but more ideas, opinions, and criticism are always welcome. Hope you enjoy!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

"Raven," Robin demanded, "Can you please explain to these _lovely_ people that I am _not_ your boyfriend and that I _don't_ beat you up on a regular basis?"

Raven looked like a dear caught in the headlights of an oncoming eighteen-wheeler as she stared into the eyes of the tall angry-looking teen that had caught her with her face freshly beaten-to-a-pulp less than a week ago.

"…Hi," she managed to say as she frantically racked her brain for a way out of this situation.

It was at this moment that the bell, signaling the start of class, finally rang.

"Will you look at that?" she laughed nervously, "Guess we'll have to do this later, huh?"

Before she could turn away, however, Robin grabbed her firmly by the shoulders. "Oh, no you don't, Rav. This is your mess, _not_ mine, remember? Until the stupid teacher shows up, this class does not officially start."

Logan, Star, and Cy exchanged a few glances and watched as Raven took a slow breath.

"Umm… sorry I freaked you out," Raven began, looking only at Cy as she explained herself. "I hadn't expected anyone but Gray to be knocking at the door so I was surprised that it was someone else and slammed the door."

"So what happened to you?" Cy asked her seriously.

Robin glanced at Raven curiously, wondering what she would say.

"Gray and I take advanced Jukido together so he was there when this guy in our class attacked my face during a bout," she explained matter-of-factly. "I expected it to be him at the door that day worrying about my condition."

Cy's eyes widened in understanding and he exchanged significant glances with his siblings.

Logan sighed and shook his head. "I'm so sorry, dude," he said to Dick Grayson as he stepped forward. "I didn't mean to jump to conclusions about anyone but I got sucked into it thanks to my crazy ass siblings."

Robin nodded his understanding.

"I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions about you, man, but the thought of a girl being beaten on by a guy made me berserk," Cy grumbled. "You forgive us?"

Robin sighed wearily.

"Yeah, you're forgiven," he answered. "Believe me… I understand _exactly_ how you feel."

He and Raven shared a brief, challenging glance.

"Well if that's the case," Logan suddenly exclaimed with a mischievous grin. He quickly snuck behind Star and gave her a slight push towards the gray-eyed boy. "Feel free to continue flirting with my sister. She was quite fond of you, right Cy?"

Cy grinned back at Logan, catching on to his mischievous spirit. "Oh yeah, dude, she even described you as 'very handsome,'" he said to Robin with dramatic googly eyes and a bad imitation of Star's voice for his last words.

The Boy Wonder was completely floored at the sudden change in climate. It took him a moment to realize that the hostility had completely vanished from the air. Before he could completely acclimate himself to being on semi-friendly terms with the two new guys, he was hit with the sudden impact of their words.

"What?" he managed to say through his astonishment. His eyes flickered to the equally astonished eyes of the red-haired beauty and found that her entire face was flushed with color. When he realized that she was blushing because of him, he couldn't help the reflexive smirk that formed on his face.

"Very handsome, huh?" he asked her playfully.

"I was… I mean… I didn't know how else to…" Star ended up stammering in her effort to trivialize the words she'd chosen to describe him.

"Sorry I'm late! Bonjour! Bonjour!" From the front of the room, the instructor rushed to her front desk with her briefcase practically falling apart in her hands. "Please! Take your seats and we'll begin with roll call."

"See you at lunch, lover boy," Raven called to Robin over her shoulder as she walked back to her seat.

Robin shook his head and grinned at the three siblings. "Well, I don't know if this first encounter was pleasant or not but," his gaze naturally flickered back to Star, "it was nice meeting you."

"You too," Star responded softly, almost at a whisper. With a still-mischievous grin, Cy took her by the shoulders and steered her to a couple of seats two rows ahead of Robin and Beast Boy.

Beast Boy eyed the boy next to him carefully as he took his seat and listened to roll call. It wasn't exactly his business who his new sister took a liking to but he still couldn't fight the somewhat protective instinct in his blood. He now knew that Richard Grayson didn't beat up his next-door neighbor but who's to say that that alone made the guy safe?

Logan raised his hand as he heard his name called and watched as Grayson raised his hand next. He liked the guy on instinct, he decided, but if he tried to scoot up any closer to his sister, Logan knew he'd have to keep a _very_ close eye on him.

* * *

By the time fourth period rolled around, Raven could feel the pain shooting all over her body, challenging her resolve to appear as her usual calm, cool, and collected self. She barely made it to the door before the bell rang and all the seats were taken in the room except for one in the very back… right next to her wonderful new neighbor.

Raven groaned under her breath as she walked slowly to the lab desk and pulled herself onto the stool. She hated sitting in the back. Teachers didn't notice you as much when you sat in the back. And if teachers didn't notice you, that would make it hard for them to remember you when it came time to ask for recommendations and consultation on college applications and scholarships.

"Hi Raven," Logan greeted with a raised eyebrow. "This is the third class I've seen you in and it's only fourth period. You an animal sciences major?"

"Biology and Chemistry," she answered blandly. It actually hurt to breathe now.

"Oh. Well maybe we can share notes, or something, when a test comes up. I've heard that AP Biology tests are killer!" he grinned playfully at her.

Raven said nothing as she watched the teacher hand a pile of papers to the students in the front row to pass around.

"Welcome, class, to AP Biology," the teacher announced in a severe tone. "I am Instructor Barkley and I am also a 100-level Biology professor at the local community college. You all might consider this bad news or good news depending upon your dedication to work since I teach both my classes according to the same curriculum."

Several groans and gasps circled around the room and Raven just shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she continued paying attention.

"Actually, considering the fact that a college course is only one semester and a high school course is two semesters, it's fair to say that this class will actually require more work." Dr. Barkley grinned mischievously as several students cried out in outrage.

"The same topics will be covered but they will be stretched out over the course of the school year and I will be assigning _plenty_ of paperwork. **However**!" he shouted over the din of noise to grab everyone's attention again.

The room quickly went quiet at his booming baritone and all of the students watched him expectantly (if a little sullenly) wondering what the exception to all this bad news could be.

"Look at the person sitting next to you at your lab tables," he instructed everyone.

Raven and Logan exchanged a confused glance before looking back to the front of the room.

"The person sitting next to you is your year-long partner for AP Biology!" Dr. Barkley continued, "That person is your lab partner, your homework partner, your classroom partner, your _test_ partner!"

The entire room was talking again, now.

"Huh?" was all Logan could intelligibly respond with.

Raven's eyes were wide and disbelieving.

"Some of you might take this to mean that you don't have to do hardly any work. And others of you might take this to mean you'll be carrying someone else through the entire year. Both of these assumptions might be true," Dr. Barkley continued after the room had quieted again. "However, if you take a look at your syllabus you'll notice something. 20 percent of your grade depends on lab work, another 20 percent depends on homework, another 20 percent depends on your tests, another 20 percent on class work, and _another 20_ percent depends on the grade your partner gives you for each and every assignment!"

Again, Dr. Barkley paused as the noise level increased in the room.

"Umm… this is… different," Logan commented.

"This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of," Raven stated.

"Yeah, or that."

"Alright! That's enough about the syllabus!" Dr. Barkley spoke up again. "First lab is this Friday. As your syllabus states, you'll all be dissecting a dead cat. Until then, you and your partner will be carefully reading up on the correct procedure, working on two in-class writing assignments, and preparing your pre-lab report before Friday's lab. And, of course, let's not forget your homework."

Dr. Barkley smiled serenely as he received murderous glances from all over the room.

"Answer all twenty questions at the end of the first chapter to be due on Friday morning!" he grinned at the musical sound of 26 students groaning dispiritedly all around the room. "I love teaching high school," he sighed contentedly. "Now get to work!"

"Okay, I'll do one class work assignment, you do the other," Raven ordered before Logan could fully open his mouth to say a word. "You do the first ten homework questions and I'll do the last ten."

"But the last ones are the hardest," Logan pointed out.

"Why should that bother you?" she asked.

"Because it's not _fair_," he answered with narrowed eyes. "And how do I know that you'll answer them right?"

"I've never gotten less than perfect on a single assignment."

"Whoopty-freakin'-do! I'm still not comfortable with my grade being completely in your hands! I don't even _know_ you!"

"Fine! What's _your _suggestion?" she demanded, crossing her arms wearily.

Beast Boy looked at her carefully and sighed. "The only way to ensure that we both get the work done right is to do it together. I mean, I think we might be the luckiest ones in the room since we live right next door to each other. That means we have time after school to do our work."

"I have many obligations, Logan," Raven declared, "I don't get home until 8, usually."

"Wow! That late? What do you do?" he asked in surprise.

"I'm SGA president, Vice President of the Honor Society, Senior Spokesperson for FBLA, President of the Chemistry club, and…" Raven turned her head and mumbled the last part.

Logan's eyes were nearly popping at the extensive extracurricular activities she was involved in. "And _what_?" he asked, wondering what else she could possibly be doing with such a full schedule.

"I'm… a football cheerleader."

Beast Boy blinked at her. He was silent for a moment, processing this new information. Then, he looked her in the eyes and exploded with laughter.

Raven clenched her teeth at his insulting response. "What's so _funny_?" she demanded angrily.

"You're… you… ha ha ha," Beast Boy couldn't control his laughter enough to give a coherent response.

"Gray talked me into it, alright?" she explained with clear irritation.

Logan's chuckles slowly wound down. "Sorry," he finally got out, "it's just… you _really_ don't look like the 'cheery' type!" He met her eyes and instantly started chuckling again.

"Well I'm not, really," she admitted. "But the other girls like me so they don't mind. Plus, Gray is captain of the football team so I get special perks since he's my best friend."

"Okay, okay, I'll leave it alone," Logan stated with a semi-straight face. The stack of papers finally reached their lab table and he quickly handed her a copy of the syllabus, the two class work assignments, and the template for the pre-lab write up.

"So," he began, completely calm now that he was able to look at the serious amount of work they had to do by Friday. "When are you free?"

* * *

**A/N: **See? There IS still a possibility that I can get these done before the end of the month! The reviews I got inspired me to start writing the next chapter sooner than I thought I had time for. Which brings me to a question: someone expressed concern that I used a little too much profanity so I attempted to cut back in this chapter… did anyone else feel as though I was using excessive profanity? Let me know your thoughts.

And thanks, everyone, for the wonderful reviews. No review is a bad review! I appreciate critiques or a simple 'I liked it.'


	5. Chapter 5

**

* * *

**

Chapter 5:

"I still don't see what the problem is, Rav. I thought they bought your whole story about Jukido practice." Robin gave her a calculated look in the middle of his stretches.

It was after school on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon and the football team was in excellent form running up and down the field. Robin was currently standing with Raven and the rest of the cheerleading squad as he took a moment to stretch out his aching throwing arm.

"They did, bird boy, but Logan might notice certain things if I take him back to my house to study," Raven stated blandly. She was in her usual practice clothes… sweatpants and a white t-shirt, but her arms were crossed and her face was almost morbidly serious.

"Well then go to his house, he lives right next door," Robin stated as though it were the most obvious solution.

"That's what we've been doing for the past two days but it's been so noisy with his brother running around the house, shouting and his sister making something explode every five minutes in the kitchen," she said with a tinge of annoyance. "Yesterday he suggested that we try my house and I didn't know what to say."

"I'll give you the keys to my Porsche and you can drive to the library," Robin again stated as if it were the simplest problem.

"I don't know how to drive a stick Gray, remember?" she growled.

Robin paused in his stretching and glanced over at her. "Rav, what could he possibly find in your house that would automatically expose your secret? If you take him straight to a room with nothing suspicious in it, then he won't notice a thing. The more suspicious you act, the more suspicious he's going to be."

Raven said nothing but continued to scowl at the varsity football team running up and down the field.

"Hey Raven! Get over here and show me that back flip again, girl!"

Raven and Robin turned to see a grinning dark-skinned cheerleader waving a hand energetically in their direction.

"Karen looks energetic as always," Robin commented dryly. He glanced back at his own team and narrowed his eyes. "The team is looking dismal this year. I'll have to hold tryouts early," he sighed and turned back to her. "You go and be cheery while I go find the coach and start running a few plays."

"Cheery, right," Raven deadpanned as she walked away with her arms still firmly crossed in front of her.

"Raven, girl! You're always looking so down in the dumps!" Karen Beecher grinned at her fellow cheerleader. "What's wrong, honey?"

"Nothing."

"O-kay! Well how about helping me perfect those flips that you make look so easy! Jinx is too busy bossing around the sophomores and Kitten's still ogling the football team."

Raven allowed Bee to escort her back to their outdoor practice area, watching as the rest of the cheerleading squad continued to act like idiots. "Hooray," she groaned under her breath. At least this was better than going home to spend quality time with her father.

* * *

"Give it a _rest_, Cy! I'm _trying_ to do my _homework_!" Beast Boy stood in the doorway of his brother's room with a look of frustration on his face. "I can hear you in _every corner_ of the fucking house, man!"

"There's _no way_ I can play Return of the Cyborgs without the _base_, BB! You _know_ that! It's not my fault that you chose a career that requires so much damn homework!"

"Don't you have an engine to build, or something? You've been at this ever since we got home!"

"I just _got_ the game _yesterday_! Go to a library or something!"

Beast Boy growled angrily and slammed the door closed as he turned away. "Fucking adopted brothers! I _knew_ I should've talked mom out of that one!" He grabbed his books and stormed down the stairs and out the front door. He then plopped down angrily on the front porch steps where he could still hear the base from his brother's 1000 Watt subwoofers.

After spreading out his books and grumbling idle threats under his breath, Beast Boy forced himself to get to work. It wasn't that he hated school… it was that he hated school _work_! He was more knowledgeable than most when it came to the anatomy and physiology of animals… he'd loved animals all his life! But somehow paperwork managed to make even his favorite subject seem dull and tedious. He had to constantly remind himself that all of the boring paperwork would pay off in the end, though.

Just as Beast Boy was settling down to read his fourth section on the digestive system of a cat, he looked up in surprise to see Star walking up the long path of the driveway.

She seemed to be very deep in thought so she didn't notice he was sitting there until she was just about to climb the porch steps. She paused and a look of slight alarm passed over her face.

"Beast Boy! What are you doing out here?"

"I was looking for a quiet place to study," he stated simply. "Where did you go? I thought you were in the house all this time and you'd usually say something before you leave."

"Oh, I…" Star lowered her gaze from his searching eyes and slowly climbed the steps. "I just went for a quick walk. I needed some time alone."

"How long were you gone?" Beast Boy asked curiously, "I've been out here for almost 30 minutes so you must have been gone before then."

"I… I do not know. I must have lost track of the time." She smiled sheepishly at him but Logan thought the smile looked slightly forced.

"Oh, okay. Well…" Logan trailed off as the light from the setting sun suddenly illuminated Star's face from a certain angle. "Is that a _bruise_ on your face?" he demanded, suddenly jumping to his feet and grabbing a hold of Star's arm to turn her around.

Star's hand flew to her left cheek and her eyes widened. "Oh! I- I… f-fell," she stammered quickly.

"You _fell_?" Beast Boy demanded with narrowed eyes. "You wanna try something a little more _believable_, Star?"

Star pulled herself out of his grip. "It was _nothing_, Logan! Stop working yourself up! I tried to climb a tree and I _fell_!"

Logan just stared at her, the disappointment clear in his emerald green eyes.

Star turned away from him and flew into the house.

* * *

When Raven walked into her home that night, her heart nearly leapt into her throat when she saw her father standing in the foyer waiting for her. It took her a moment to realize that he was fully dressed in uniform and his duffle bag was at his feet. Sober, she sighed in relief.

"Hello, father," she greeted formally.

"What the hell are you wearing? You wore that to school?" he demanded gruffly.

Raven looked down at her practice clothes and back at her father. "Of course not, I just came from practice."

"Practice for what?"

"Cheerleading practice."

His eyes widened for a moment before a harsh laugh escaped him. "You?" he demanded incredulously between laughs. "They let _you_ be a _cheerleader_?"

Raven simply glared at him.

"They must have been desperate!" he cried, laughing even harder.

"I suppose they were," Raven muttered blandly.

When Daemon Roth was finally able to calm down, he glanced at his elegant wristwatch and regarded his daughter with amused eyes. "I'm off to work, kid. Make sure you don't have any of your boyfriends over while I'm gone… unless it's the Wayne boy. That's one snot-nosed brat I don't mind you screwing around with."

Raven said nothing to the usual ribbing and almost fell over when her father shoved by her to get to the door. The sudden movement set her ribs on fire and she was forced to grit her teeth against the renewed pain.

She leaned her weight against the wall of the foyer and closed her eyes as she gulped in small breaths around the pain.

It's only a little pain, she reassured herself, I can handle a little pain. It's nothing to get worked up about. He's only goading you now, it can't get any worse.

After a few moments, she felt recovered enough to straighten and drag herself and her books upstairs. After glancing at the clock on her bedside table, she decided to have a quick shower and change before Logan Garfield came over.

* * *

The sun had long ago set from the sky by the time Logan arrived at the Roths' front door with his AP Biology books tucked under his arms. He'd showered and changed into a loose pair of jeans and a black t-shirt so that he could feel relaxed. As he rang the doorbell, however, he just couldn't wipe the disgruntled expression off of his face.

Star had avoided him for the rest of the day and when Moira came home, she'd simply told Logan to let his sister work through her problems on her own. Did that mean that Moira O' Connell already _knew_ what was wrong? Logan couldn't fathom that his mother would simply back off without asking questions as though she wasn't concerned.

When Raven finally opened the door, Beast Boy was already suffering from the beginnings of a serious headache.

"Aren't you Mr. Sunshine," she greeted in her monotone voice.

"Yeah, well today's not the brightest day I've ever had," he answered with a shrug.

"Aww! Don't tell me… your goldfish died?" Raven pet him on the shoulder patronizingly and escorted him into her house.

Logan smirked, his canines peaking out charmingly. He could tell she was trying to bate him into another one of their verbal spars that they'd had all week. "Careful, Raven, I might actually start to think you cared."

"Well I wouldn't want you to get that idea. Maybe I should twist your arm so you don't get confused."

"Isn't that what school girls do to a guy they have a crush on?" Logan asked with mock innocence as he followed her up the sweeping circular staircase. "Why Raven, I had no idea you thought of me that way!"

A small smile graced Raven's face in her amusement but Beast Boy didn't notice this rarity since he was following behind her.

"Did you really bring me here to do homework or are you trying to sneak me up to your room so you can have your wicked way with me?" Beast Boy continued to tease.

Raven stopped at a door and turned to face him with an impassive expression. "Anyone ever point out that you have an ego problem?" she asked.

"No, actually most people consider that part of my charm," he grinned at her.

She rolled her eyes at him and opened the door.

Beast Boy followed her in to see, not a bedroom, but a library with eight separate rows of books and a large mahogany desk at the very back and in front of a floor-to-ceiling curtain-less bay window. "Dude," he murmured as he looked around. "Nice digs."

"Umm, thanks, I guess." Raven led him to the desk and pulled up an extra chair. "Five bedrooms and only two residents… we had to do something interesting with one of the rooms."

"Right, 'cause you can't have three guest bedrooms, I guess." Logan opened his books and took out several folded sheets of paper. "I have some notes written down for all of the questions. We can just clean them up, add some more facts and form them into complete sentences."

Raven nodded and opened her own books in a business-like manner. "Right, I'll look those over and you can look over the draft I've written up for our pre-lab report. Just go over it with a red pen and add your comments or further information… whatever you think it needs."

Logan smiled as he took the manila folder and red pen she handed to him. He found it amusing just how much of a perfectionist she was. In the few days that they'd been working together they had quickly formed a comfortable partnership. Once they realized that they were both overachievers in the subject and somehow managed to do equal workloads without planning to…they found it very easy to get along.

"Oh," Raven looked up from her proofing to tell him something. "We have a small biology section if you wanted more resources. You want me to bring a few books?"

"Sure, that's fine," Logan muttered distractedly as he continued to look over her report.

With an imperceptibly pained expression, Raven slowly got up from her seat and went to search the shelves.

Beast Boy began to thoughtfully tap the red pen against his chin as he read. "The fundus to the pyloric antrum…." He read on carefully before turning to look over his shoulder. "Hey Raven, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to put so much focus on this part of the digestive system…."

"What are you talking about?" Raven's muffled question came from the furthest section of the small library.

Logan stood up, holding the paper in his hand, and went to show her the section he was referring to.

"Loga-" Raven's question was cut off with a sharp gasp when she emerged from behind a bookshelf and collided with the distracted boy. They collided hard, with the three Biology books that she'd been carrying in her arms bumping them both in the stomach before falling to the ground.

"Oh shit!" Logan exclaimed as the sudden collision caught him off guard. "I'm sorry Raven I wasn't paying atten-" he started apologizing when he realized that Raven was doubled over and clutching her midsection. "Raven?"

Pain of the worse kind was shooting all over Raven's body. The books had hit her right in the ribs, igniting a pain that was even worse than it'd been freshly after her beating. "I- I'm fine," she gasped out. "I just… need to… go-"

A sharp gasp escaped her before she could finish her sentence and she hunched over even more to bear the pain.

"Shit!" Logan dropped the report he'd been holding and knelt down beside her. "Raven, what the hell is going on?" he demanded. He gently grabbed her hands and pulled them away from her stomach with one hand and slowly raised the hem of her shirt a little to see if she'd somehow cut herself. Raven was in far too much pain to protest his actions. "_Shit_!" he exclaimed again in alarm when he saw what was under her shirt.

A large portion of the area over her skin was completely black with purple and green bruises surrounding it grotesquely. The extent of the injury was very alarming and for a moment, not a single thought crossed Logan's brain.

Suddenly, Raven convulsed into a violent fit of coughs that made him pull his hands back and snap out of his stupor. "We have to get you to a hospital," he declared, "_now_!"

Raven was able to choke down her coughs after a while and she stared up at him with a carefully blank face. "I'll be… fine," she wheezed with her hand still covering her mouth.

"Try another one!" Logan shouted at her. He'd had just about enough of people telling him that they were _fine_ when they were clearly anything _but_ fine. Without bothering to discuss it any further, Logan tucked one arm beneath her legs and the other gently around her shoulders and carefully lifted her into the air, bridal style. Raven's weak and frantic protests fell on deaf ears.

With a sense of urgency, he rushed her out of the library, down the stairs, and practically tore down the front door in his haste to shove it open. Without bothering to check that the front door was closed, he tore across the connecting lawns thinking frantically of the fastest way to the hospital when he spotted Cy's freshly polished, black, Honda Ridgeline sitting innocently in the circular driveway. Holding Raven with one arm, Logan used the other to fish out his ring of keys which happened to hold a spare Honda master key. '_Only_ for _emergencies_!' Logan could practically picture Cy's ominous face shouting at him.

"This _is_ an emergency," he muttered to himself as he pressed the unlock button, threw the passenger door open and quickly but carefully placed his next-door neighbor on the plush leather seat. Once he had her strapped in and secured, he raced around to the driver's seat and barely had his feet in the door before he was revving the engine.

Another coughing fit from Raven snapped his attention back to her again but this time, when Logan looked over, blood spotted the palm of her hand.

"Shit!" He exclaimed, stomping down on the accelerator and screeching the tires as he peeled off.

xxx

**A/N: **Whew! Another chapter out! I think I did pretty well on timing, don't you? Anywho, my only concern with this chapter is really the cursing. I said I would try to cut down but as I focused on truly writing from the characters' POV I realized that for the situations in this chapter, curse words were unavoidable. Not to say that there's no other way for a person to express themselves (I don't curse at all, generally) but I just thought this was the way _these_ characters would express themselves. Hope you all understand.

Hmm… other than that, take a few seconds to tell me what you all think! Love and Peace!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

"Miss Roth, you'll be feeling quite sore for a few weeks but we have your ribs bandaged just firmly enough to keep them from being jarred too much. I speculate that you incurred a small fracture at some point and without medical attention, it remained until you bumped it against something and fractured it more seriously. Nothing to worry about, though, you should thank your friend for acting so swiftly or your situation could have been worse."

Raven glared balefully up at the oblivious doctor from her hospital bed. In other words, she thought angrily, you're calling me a complete klutz. If you hadn't drugged me so much, maybe I'd have the energy to flip you off.

"Of course, you are free to go back home but I can't send you home alone with the gentleman that escorted you here. As a minor, I must contact your parent or guardian, inform them of your situation, and send you off with only them. Who is the person in charge of you?"

Bastard!

"My parents are out of town," Raven answered in a falsely innocent tone. "I'm staying with relatives, though, should I call them?"

"Umm, yes, that would be fine. Have an adult relative come and check you out. The nurse will bring you the phone." With that, the doctor left the room, absentmindedly flipping through his clipboard.

* * *

Dick Grayson: the perfect adopted son of billionaire Bruce Wayne and the secret prodigy of the Dark Knight. Sometimes he enjoyed living a double life because it afforded him the ability to do things most teenagers couldn't do. For instance, since the city was so peaceful lately, Robin could take the time in his boredom to check up on such mediocre things as the suspicious activities of the new upper-class family that moved in right next door to his best friend.

Robin arrived at the peaceful home around midnight, dressed the part in his dark red, green and black disguise. He had designed his latest costume from a heat-resistant polymer that molded to his body and allowed for maximum flexibility. It was also layered with the latest in bullet proof technology that gave the added advantage of making him appear bigger and taller than he actually was so he didn't have to worry about anyone he knew as Dick Grayson connecting him as Robin.

Robin remained perched in a tree overlooking Moira O'Connell's mansion for almost thirty minutes when something strange happened. From a bedroom window on the side of the house, a red-haired girl climbed out onto the sill and without hesitation, jumped down three stories. Robin watched on in shock as the girl landed lightly on her feet and glanced around suspiciously before taking off at a dead run. Under normal circumstances, Robin would've let her go, making the assumption that she was sneaking out to see a secret boyfriend or something. However, Star Tamarania had just jumped out of a third-story window without getting hurt… something was _definitely_ suspicious about that! He jumped down agilely from his tree perch and quickly gave pursuit.

Robin pursued her for more than three blocks before she finally turned into the mouth of an alley and disappeared into the shadows. Eyes narrowed beneath his dark mask, Robin looked down from the fire escape of the building across the street from the alley. He was just about to continue his pursuit into the alley when he suddenly heard the loud, guttural sound of an engine revving to life. A bright xenon light flashed from the depths of the alley and in a blur, a silver monster bike with five pistons pumping on each side blasted out of the darkness and sped off. A mane of red hair flew out like a flag from beneath the helmet, leaving no mystery as to whom the driver was.

Robin's fists clenched at his sides. The more he thought about it, the more that Star Tamarania seemed to sound more and more like a made-up name. He recalled quite clearly the slip-up she'd made when she'd first introduced herself. Was she a fugitive? Was she in hiding?

The R-Cycle obediently came to a stop right below Robin's perch. He contemplated the futility of racing after the girl when she had a head start anyway on her super-powered ride, only to hear Bruce's lecture later on time wasted hunting down high school girls. The decision was made for him, however, when he heard the Morse code chirp in his ear. He raised two fingers to the hidden communicator.

"Yes, Alfred?"

'_Sir, I've just received news that young Miss Raven is in the emergency ward at the hospital. I am on my way to release her under the guise of her uncle. Perhaps you would like to meet me there?'_

Robin hopped onto his bike and kicked it into gear "I'll be right there," he growled, spinning in the opposite direction with his tires peeling and then speeding off.

* * *

By the time Robin walked into the ER waiting room after stashing his uniform in the compartment of his bike and programming his bike to return home, it was already passed one in the morning. He was surprised to see Logan Garfield sitting in an uncomfortable chair, impatiently waiting. Logan didn't look surprised to see him, though, only irritated.

"Her uncle was just escorted upstairs to check on her before signing her out. They should be down any minute."

"Why are you here?" Robin asked, taking the seat across from him.

Logan glared at him for a very long time before answering. "Imagine my surprise when an accidental collision with a pile of books caused Raven to keel over and nearly stop breathing."

"Seriously?" Robin clenched his fists reflexively, thinking about how critical of an injury Raven must have sustained from her father.

"What's the matter? You don't look too surprised," Logan stated scathingly.

"I'm sorry, are we back to the theory of me being the bad guy, again? I missed that memo." Robin forcefully unclenched his fists and crossed his arms to try to relax his nerves. His best friend had just had an emergency operation and he was being blamed for what her prick of a father did to her. He _badly_ wanted to beat something up but he didn't want to give away the fact that he _knew_ what had happened to her.

"Until I get a straight answer from someone, I'll suspect whomever I damn well please," Logan declared. His eyes were narrowed at Richard Grayson's face and his tone and posture suggested a very belligerent attitude. "How did you find out she was here?"

"Her Uncle Alfred called my cell. Our families are very close. How long have you been waiting here?"

"About five hours," Logan declared flatly. "They wouldn't let me see her since she's a minor and I'm not related. So… Jukido classes, huh?"

Robin shifted his eyes to the doors uncomfortably. "Things can get a little rough in Jukido," he answered vaguely.

"I don't think a _licensed instructor_ would let it get _that_ rough," Logan interrupted, barely holding back a growl in his voice. "What the hell _really_ happened to Raven? What is she hiding and why hasn't she gotten help?"

Robin's gray eyes hesitantly met Logan's sparking green ones. "I _told_ you, I'm _not_ the one to ask. Do you think I keep tabs on every little injury that Raven acquires? I didn't even _know_ there was something wrong with her this time. She wasn't going to tell me!"

Logan watched the anger come alive on Grayson's face and shook his head. "It's been a long day, Grayson. I don't like being lied to, okay? Raven's been hiding that injury all _week_ if not longer and even when she was collapsing she wouldn't tell me what was going on. It's been driving me nuts! And not to mention this mess with Star!"

Robin's eyes narrowed. "What mess with Star?" Did Logan Garfield know about his sister's suspicious behavior of sneaking out at night?

"She went off somewhere earlier this afternoon and came back with a bruise on her face," Logan explained with a scowl. "Then she had the nerve to tell me that she somehow _fell_ and ended up with a bruise shaped like a handprint. Can you believe that?"

"Girls. The hell if I know what goes on in their heads." Robin shook his head at this new revelation. So what the heck was _Star_ mixed up in?

The door finally swung open and both guys looked up as Raven slowly walked in with Alfred. She stopped and glanced from one serious face to the other. "What the heck are you two doing here?" she asked in confusion.

"Waiting for your ungrateful butt, apparently," Logan shot back at her as he finally stood from his uncomfortable seat.

"How sweet. I didn't realize that I had my own entourage," Raven began to hobble towards the exit but Dick quickly intercepted her and wrapped her arm carefully over his shoulders. "Gray, really. I can move around just fine."

Dick ignored her and glanced back at Alfred in askance.

"I'll bring the car around, sir," Alfred immediately replied with a small smile and a nod before leaving them alone.

"Sir?" Logan asked as the old British man walked off. "Why is her uncle calling you _sir_?"

Raven and Robin shared a significant glance as they made slow progress to the hospital's exit with Logan following them close behind.

"Alfred is my butler, Garfield," Robin answered carefully.

"I thought you said your families were _friends_! And _don't_ _ever_ call me Garfield again."

"Alfred's not really my uncle, Logan. He's a very close friend of Bruce Wayne and Richard Grayson who also happens to be their trusted butler," Raven finally answered with a long sigh. "I lied so that I could get out of that stupid hospital without having to call my own family."

"Why wouldn't you want to call your own family?" Logan asked slowly, although a slow comprehension was beginning to dawn on his face.

"Because, _Sherlock_, my father did this to me and he's the only family I have right now!" Raven shouted over her shoulder at him. Robin paused outside of the hospital entrance to let Raven face him properly. "Are you happy now? You got your stupid answer!"

Logan had frozen in place as soon as the truth had finally come out. He stared into Raven's troubled eyes and felt a rush of sympathy wash over him. "R-Raven…" he began in a gentle and uncertain voice.

"Save the heart-warming, Garfield, I've known for seventeen years that my father's a jerk. There's no reason for you to feel sorry about it." Raven's face was as cold as ice as she stared back at Logan. Her hair flew around her in a tangled mess but she still managed to somehow look as regal and confident as a queen.

Logan finally managed to snap his jaw shut and gather his wits about him. "Why haven't you told anyone? If he's hurting you that bad, Rave-"

"_What_, Logan? If he's hurting me this bad _what_? Go to the police?" Raven let out a bitter exclamation. "My father _is_ the police! He's one of their top street detectives! A friggin' _saint_ of Gotham City! Who the hell do you think I could go to? Batman?"

"Who the hell is-"

"Never mind. The point is that there's nothing I or anyone else can do that I haven't done already. So don't make this a big thing, okay?" Raven searched his dark green eyes beseechingly.

Logan stared directly back at her with a blank face. She really didn't like taking help from people, did she? He glanced over at Dick Grayson, who was trying his best to blend in with the scenery. Alfred had pulled up in a classic Rolls-Royce limousine and was patiently awaiting his passengers.

"Fine," he muttered finally. His eyes slanted back to her dark amethyst ones seriously. "Your secret's safe with me."

Raven simply nodded tiredly at him. "Thank you."

"Want a ride back home?" he offered.

Raven glanced at Robin, who immediately nodded his understanding. "Please," she answered.

Brandishing his set of keys, Logan stepped up and wrapped a supporting arm carefully around her small waist.

"You really don't have to-"

"Shhh…" he interrupted her quick protest. "You've already won enough battles tonight, Miss Roth. I'm not going to let you limp your way to the truck, as well."

"Fine," she mumbled, turning her head away carefully as they began moving to his brother's truck in the parking lot.

As Robin looked out the window of his limousine, he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Raven with her head turned away from Logan Garfield. She was _blushing_!

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, so this update was a _little_ longer than a month… I have a _reeeally_ good explanation for that. See, what had happened was…. lol. Seriously, though, it's been a rough semester and I'm sol glad it's nearly over. I didn't think you guys would miss this too much, anyhow.

In the meantime, I've thought up some really great plot twists for this lil' baby that I hope to get cracking on soon. Hopefully I'll spark a little more interest with what I have planned and then there'll be no _stopping_ me from writing the rest. Hee hee!

Thank you to everyone who's reviewed my first few chapters. A lot of inspiration has come out of your thoughts and feelings. I hope I can make the rest of this story worth your read!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

Since the night of Raven's accident, Beast Boy and his siblings became immersed in the life of their new school. Star tried out and won a spot on the varsity cheerleading squad with Raven and now she was constantly flipping and cartwheeling around the house. Both Cy and Beast Boy secured second string positions on Dick Grayson's football team- Cy as the new linebacker and Beast Boy as cornerback- but there was a strong possibility that they would be moved up to first string with the dismal performance of the current starters.

Practice was every day, after school. On top of that, Beat Boy's teachers began piling up loads of homework making him realize that AP Biology wasn't the only class he really had to focus on this year.

Also, the students at St. Gabriel suddenly decided to take an almost perverse interest in he and his siblings. Dozens of people- mostly girls- had already approached him to try and glean every intimate detail they could possibly find out about him. He was asked everything from innocent questions like 'So where'd you come from?' to not so innocent questions like 'What type of underwear do you wear?' and 'What's your cup-size?' Okay, so that last one was asked by the sales clerk when he went to buy his jockstrap but he _still_ felt violated.

Beast Boy had gone on two dates with three different girls since the start of school. Both of them ended horribly, one of them because the girl just didn't get his humor and the other… well, because he somehow ended up on a date with _two_ girls rather than one (they were amused… his wallet was not). Simon, on the other hand, seemed to be going out every other night with a different girl and he seemed to be having a great time. And Star, poor girl, was nervous with all of the attention she was receiving. It was obvious that she and Dick were attracted to one another but so far she'd only been approached by idiots that Cy and BB were forced to scare off when they didn't take Star's polite refusals.

Beast Boy was so distracted with school, practice, and meeting new friends that he had barely been able to say two words to Raven since that night almost two months ago. When she'd returned to classes the Monday after the incident, there was an odd tension between the two of them that made him feel awkward. They barely talked during their Biology labs unless it was about work and when they met in the library after school to work on their homework, they barely even looked at each other unless they accidently reached for the same book at the same time.

Beast Boy couldn't fathom what was causing the strange silence between them. He suspected that part of it came from Raven's embarrassment of what he'd discovered about her but she'd been fine when he drove her home that night and it was almost _two months_ since it happened. Surely, things should have cooled off by now….

* * *

"Okay guys! I have to take a break!" Kitten announced with a wide plastic-looking grin.

"That's your third break in less than an hour," Raven stated with an evident tinge of annoyance. "Why don't you quit looking at the guys on the field and focus on the stupid routine, already."

Star nodded her head slightly. "I am in agreement with Raven. We could finish much sooner if we focused all of our combined energy on getting this right."

Kitten frowned sourly at the tall red-head. "Who _asked_ you, Barbie?" she screeched. "If I want your opinion, I'll ask for it!"

The skinny blonde turned on her heel and walked to the bleachers on the side of the field leaving a startled and severely perplexed Star.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Raven smirked and rolled her eyes. "No, Star. She's just miffed that her 'eye-candy' is caught looking at you more times than she'd like to admit."

"I do not understand."

"Sugar, she means that Dick Grayson has been caught by practically everyone in the school checking you out when the two of you are anywhere near each other!" Karen Beecher giggled softly in amusement at the oblivious look on Star's face.

"Richard has been staring at me? I do not understand. He barely even pays attention to me."

"When you're looking, hon. Face it, Dick Grayson has the hots for you and the whole school knows it... including Kitten." Karen smiled knowingly as she began stretching out her arms and legs as a warm up.

Star glanced out onto the football field where she could see Richard Grayson shouting out orders to his teammates and running through scrimmages. What Karen said couldn't be true. Richard Grayson hadn't so much as said hello to her in weeks! Months, even! But if he was staring at her when she wasn't looking, then what did that mean?

* * *

The next morning, as Logan, Simon, and Star walked into homeroom together they immediately noticed that there was an unusual buzz amongst the students. Perplexed, BB stopped at Raven's desk, the only person who wasn't congregating and gabbing with other people.

"What's going on?" he asked her curiously.

Raven glanced up at him nonchalantly before turning back to reading her Jane Austen book. "Cheerleaders are throwing their semi-annual pep party this Friday. There's a big game next week."

"Did someone say _party_?" Cy interjected with a large grin. "Details! I need details!" He hurried off to talk with some of the football players goofing off in the back of the room.

"Why was I not informed of such an event. Are not all the cheerleaders involved?" Star asked with some concern.

"Ask Bee about that. Her and Kitten are the main coordinators for the whole thing. The rest of us just have to be there," Raven answered dully.

With her brows still furrowed in slight concern, Star walked off to do just that, leaving BB still standing at Raven's desk.

"So what are these parties usually like?" he asked in an attempt to make conversation. He had to fight the impulse to awkwardly walk away from the silent female; he was so accustomed to keeping their small talk to a minimum to avoid adding to the strange tension between them.

Dropping the pretense of being immersed in her book, Raven peered up at him over the book's cover, surprised that he was still there. "Umm, they're just your usual teenaged, hormonally charged, average, boring party," she stated with only a tinge of sarcasm. "I wouldn't go if it wasn't such a big deal for the cheerleaders."

Beast Boy laughed lightly at her predictability. "Oh come on Raven, it can't be that bad. I personally _love_ parties. Maybe you should hang out with me and Cy Friday night; there's no way you'd be bored."

Raven studied the easy way his mouth turned up into a mischievous grin; he was the perfect picture of your run-of-the-mill 'Bad Boy.' Only difference was that she knew this supposed bad boy was unusually kind and mostly harmless. Why did he have to be so friendly? If only she hadn't told him about her father....

She turned her gaze back to her book as she felt the heat rising on her face. "I'm going to the party but chances are that I'll just stay in Bee's guest room and read."

"Well, we'll see about that," Beast Boy muttered with an even wider grin.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Raven stared suspiciously back up at him.

"Nothing, forget about it," he grabbed a seat and sat down, straddling the back and leveling his green gaze at her. "Listen, I've been wondering how you've been doing… you know, since _it_ happened."

"Logan, that was two months ago. I'm over it."

"He hasn't been doing anything else… your Father, I mean?"

"_No_!" Raven seethed.

Just like that, the tension had returned ten-fold.

"I just wanted to ask…" Beast Boy started in a soft, defensive tone.

"Well, _don't_."

"Okay, fine. Have it your way, princess." He raised both his hands in the air as a form of surrender. "But may I ask why you've been so pissed off at me lately?"

Raven's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I haven't been pissed off at you. And if I had been, trust me when I say we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."

"Then explain to me why we've been tiptoeing around each other these past few weeks."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Logan," she lied. Honestly, she couldn't control the fact that she felt so self-conscious around him… she'd be damned if she admitted that to him, though.

"Beast Boy."

"What?" she cocked an eyebrow at him in confusion.

"Call me Beast Boy," he repeated. "I'm not very used to people calling me anything else."

"Oh? Why's that? Logan _is_ your name."

"It's complicated…" he muttered, turning his head just as their French teacher came rushing through the door.

"Bonjour, bonjour! Please take your seats everybody! Sorry I'm late!"

As Beast Boy readjusted himself in the seat next to her, Raven studied the serious look on his face. What was so complicated about a name?

* * *

Star waited until the lunch bell rang before slipping out into the courtyards and using the crowd to hide herself as she quickly made her way to an obscure opening between two brick walls of the school. The place was completely dark from the tall shadows that the walls cast and she couldn't tell if the person she was waiting for was there or not. With a look of trepidation, Star glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching as she carefully approached the seedy place.

"Hello _sister_."

Star's head whipped around trying to find the face that went with the voice. It was no use, as her eyes had yet to adjust to the sudden darkness. But she knew exactly who was there, regardless.

"Blackfire, why have you called me here?" she demanded.

Footsteps circled around her and Star followed the sound with her eyes.

"Business is still booming, dear sister. But not as much as it would be with you," came the answer.

"I told you. I am no longer a part of the Citadel. I will not return!"

"Oh? But what if I wasn't giving you a choice, Starfire? What if I said I could do some very bad things to _make_ you want to come back? Wouldn't that be awful?" The sinister lilt to the woman's voice was enough to put Star on edge.

"My name isn't Starfire."

"Oh! I'm sorry, _Star_, how silly of me to forget that you took off _four letters_ from your codename and decided to make it your new _clever_ alias! Star _Tamarania_… did you **honestly** believe I wouldn't find you with such a poorly disguised name?"

"You were supposed to return to Tamaran!" Star protested, feeling the tears spring to her eyes. "Why are you still here?"

"Tisk, tisk, tisk. How can I return to Tamaran, little sister, when I can make so much money here in Gotham?"

Finally, Star could see her sister's cruel, dark eyes through the darkness of the alley. "You will not succeed here, sister. You should quit the business and return to Tamaran while you still can."

Angrily, the dark-haired girl grabbed her by the throat and lifted her clear off the pavement. "Do not threaten me, Kori, for I am long past the limit of my patience. Answer me now! Will you return willingly to the Citadel and stand beside me with the Tamaran soldiers?"

Grasping fiercely at her evil sister's wrist, Star seethed with indignation. "No!"

With a smirk, Blackfire dropped her back to the ground. "Have it your way then. Next time I see you, mark my words Starfire, you will be _begging_ to return."

On her knees, clutching at her sore throat, Star watched helplessly as her sister disappeared. And hiding in the deepest shadows, gray eyes narrowed at what he'd just overheard.

* * *

Beast Boy grinned to himself as he made his way to lunch with his arms behind his head. Nothing like a good prank on his unsuspecting brother to lift his spirits. When next Cy opened his locker door, he would be greeted by a face-full of red paint triggered to spring out as soon as the door was opened by a certain amount. Beast Boy snickered, just picturing the look on Cy's face when it happened. Sigh, what a perfect way to cheer himself up.

"Umm… BB?"

Beast Boy looked up to see the face of someone he hadn't expected to _ever _see again.

"_Terra_?"

The girl walked up to him with a hesitant smile. "Hey hon, long time no see."

And just like that, Beast Boy's mood was ruined again.

"Are you happy to see me?" Terra asked, still smiling.

Beast Boy continued to gape at her, uncomprehending.

With a mischievous smirk, Terra stepped closer and reached up on tiptoe to lightly peck her ex-boyfriend on his slightly open lips.

Immediately, Beast Boy snapped out of it and grabbed her by the shoulders, pushing her back and restraining her to maintain some much needed distance. "What are you doing here, Terra?" he demanded. Then his gaze traveled down and he let out a groan. "And _why_ are you wearing the school uniform?"

The blonde rolled her eyes at him playfully. "_Because_, silly, I transferred schools when I moved here. Do you like?" she asked, holding the fabric of her Catholic school girl skirt.

"M-moved?" Beast Boy stuttered, "How? _When_?"

"Yes, yesterday. My new foster father got a job here," she answered jovially.

Beast Boy continued to watch her in disbelief.

Terra lifted a hand to brush some of his thick hair away from his eyes. "You know, BB, I was so sad after you left. No one was there to make me smile and make me feel happy and warm, anymore…" she leaned closer to him despite the hands still restraining her.

Beast Boy jumped and quickly stepped away. "You dumped _me,_ remember?" he muttered, warily. "You don't get to come back and tell me you've changed your mind."

"Come on, BB! You know I didn't mean it. I was just mad that you were leaving!" she protested.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm missing my lunch," he stated dismissively. He turned and walked away and with a frustrated sound, Terra let him.

Slightly dazed and angry all at the same time, Beast Boy walked into the cafeteria with his hands in his pocket and a moody look on his face. He took his usual seat with the football players and cheerleaders that had the same lunch period as him.

"Who stole your lunch money?"

Green eyes lifted at the sarcastic remark and he found himself sitting directly across from Raven. "I don't wanna talk about it," he grumbled, ignoring the look of surprise in her dark amethyst eyes.

"Yo BB!" Cy came marching up to their table with a suspiciously red tinge to his skin and a pink stain splattered down the front of his shirt.

Beast Boy stared for a moment at the hilarious sight but not even a smirk would come to his face after who he'd just seen.

Cy angrily thrust a paint-coated paper bag at him. "You left your lunch in my locker," he growled.

Beast Boy caught the bag and suddenly found himself being pulled to his feet by the front of his shirt.

"I hope you brought your running shoes because you're _walking_ home today, grass stain." With that, Cy stormed off to probably find a new uniform.

"Word of advice?" Raven said as he sat back down. "_Never_ prank your ride home."

Beast Boy lowered his head and let out a sigh. Why was this such an awful day?

* * *

**A/N:** Yeah, this sure did take a gawd-awful long time to update but what can I say? Life's complicated and sometimes everything just decides to go wrong all at once. Anywho, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next update should definitely be sooner. Ah! And hopefully you guys got a taste of where I was headed with Starfire's storyline. It should prove to be interesting. And, hmm... Beast Boy has secrets too? Man, the only one without secrets is 'Simon Green.' (Cue evil laughter) Tell me what you guys thought of Terra, though. I might not be able to answer all of your questions if it might spoil something but I'll try.

I told you guys I intended to have fun with this story so, pretty much... expect anything.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

"Simon?"

"The name's Cy," the bulking teen automatically responded without looking up from his hand-drawn design project.

"Oh… umm… hi," the voice answered nervously. The soft, female voice, Cy suddenly realized. He looked up from his seat at the drawing board to see a tall girl with a smooth, bronzed complexion and short, shockingly pink hair that appeared slightly spiky.

'Cute,' he instantly thought with a grin.

"How can I help you, little lady?" he asked, giving his full attention.

"Well… I was kinda hoping that you could give me a crash course in beam analysis so that I could do my project," she explained.

"Sure, I could help you out. But why ask me?"

"'Cause I heard you were the man to go to," she grinned, "all the guys are still in awe over your design for a concept hybrid sports car. And from the way Mr. Avondet gushes about your work, I'm sure you must have the highest grade in the class."

Cy laughed and lifted a large hand to scratch the back of his neck self-consciously. "I am great aren't I?" he grinned. "Okay, tell you what. You go ahead and pull up a stool and I'll give you that crash course. But in exchange," and here he gave his most charming smile, "you go with me to the pep party tonight."

The girl smiled at him flirtatiously, brushing a few strands of hair out of her dark eyes. "How do you know I don't already have a date," she asked playfully.

"Do you?" he countered, leaning towards her with a devilish smirk.

"No," she laughed, enjoying his avid attention, "but it looks like I do now. The name's Jayanti by the way, my friends call me Jinx."

"I like that. Jinx. I guess you already know but allow me to formally introduce myself…" he raised two fingers to his temple in a mock salute, "Simon Green at your service. Everyone calls me 'Cy' as in Cyborg 'coz I'm all about new-age technology, baby."

"Cyborg… cute, I like that as well. So what time are you picking me up tonight, Cyborg?"

* * *

Beast Boy was not having a good day. Scratch that, Beast Boy hadn't been having a good _week_. He found himself sneaking around school, peeking around corners, and tiptoeing past every blonde he saw in the hallways. Not to mention that Cy was _still_ upset about the prank he'd pulled that he hadn't even gotten a kick out of. _Why_ did Terra have to come to _this_ school of all schools? She wasn't even Catholic! Never mind the fact that he and his siblings weren't either!

With a heavy sigh, Beast Boy entered the school library with his Biology book tucked under his arm and made his way to the only occupied table in the whole room. With a scowl, he rudely dropped his book in the center of the table causing the petite girl to look up from her work.

"Please tell me again why I am standing in the school library _after_ school hours on a _Friday_ that I _finally_ have off from practice doing extra credit for a class I _know_ I'm not failing," he demanded irritably.

Raven regarded him with cool eyes before lowering her head back to her books and scattered papers. "Dr. Barkley was kind enough to give us this extra credit work to make up for the grade we got on our last lab report," she stated in an even tone.

Beast Boy plopped down in the seat directly in front of her and stared at her open mouthed for a moment. "Raven," he finally uttered, "we got a B on that report."

"No. We got a B _minus_, which is practically a C plus, which could easily bring down our standing in the class," Raven stated matter-of-factly as she quickly turned the pages of one of her books and scratched down a few notes on a loose sheet of paper.

"Are you freaking kidding me?"

When Raven didn't even glance up at him, Beast Boy took in a deep angry breath and shoved his chair away from the table. "I've had enough crazy for one week, I'm not about to spend the first Friday afternoon I have off from practice doing extra work for a class we both know we're still the best students in."

Raven looked up to see him already heading for the exit with an angry stride. "Fine," she bit out, "I didn't ask for your help, anyway."

Beast Boy paused and snapped his head around with another incredulous look. "I don't get you, Raven," he shouted suddenly, storming back over to her. He leaned over the table, staring her straight into her shocked amethyst eyes. "You have perfect grades, the highest grade point average in the school, you're class president, student of the year, and the most popular girl in the school without even _trying_!" he yelled at her, disbelief clearly evident in his voice. "Why the hell do you feel the need to push for more?!"

Raven blinked at him, uncomfortably aware that his nose was inches away from hers. What idiot would invade someone's personal space so carelessly? Her cheeks were definitely burning. If he caught her blushing, she would kill him!

"Have you ever even heard the saying 'enough is enough'?" Beast Boy asked with an annoyed roll of his eyes as he straightened and crossed his arms, expectantly waiting for some sort of answer.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand," she said quietly. "Like I said, I can do this by myself."

Beast Boy watched as her forehead scrunched up slightly with a small scowl. For someone whose face was usually devoid of all emotion, a wrinkling of the brow was a clear sign that she had become upset.

"That's not what I was trying to say, Rae. You shouldn't have to do this by yourself. I'm saying you don't need to do this at all," he clarified with a slight tinge of frustration in his tone. He realized, with some annoyance, that this whole business with Terra was making him fly off the handle with Raven. He never would've thought he'd snap at her like this. After all, he felt somewhat obligated to be extra sensitive with her after what he'd witnessed a couple months ago.

He watched as Raven stopped writing again and he slowly retook his seat. "I'll help you with the stupid assignment but I have one thing to ask in return."

"I told you, you don't have to-"

Beast Boy immediately cut her off by grabbing her wrist and forcing her to meet his eyes. He grinned mischievously at her shocked expression. "Before the party, you have to show me where the best pizza place in town is… I've been _dying_ for an extra cheese veggie pizza!"

Raven just stared at him in shock for a moment. Hadn't he been angry just a second ago? "Umm, o…kay…," she answered slowly.

"Excellent!"

Beast Boy instantly picked up one of her books, a few sheets of paper, and an extra pen with a satisfied grin. Without hesitation, he cracked open the book and began to work.

Shaking her head at the enigma that was Logan Garfield, Raven slowly lowered her head back to her books. She was secretly glad that he was talking to her normally again despite her failed attempt at avoiding him and her apparent obsession with work.

As they worked, Beast Boy kept a steady conversation going, mostly by himself, about the complexities of their last lab assignment and how the points they had lost were completely innocuous.

From his comments, Raven could see that he really did have a firm grasp of the material. He was easily able to list off all of the facts about amphibians and their common physical traits.

"You know," she started, cutting him off in the midst of his rant about Dr. Barkley's strict attention to detail, "for someone who plays juvenile pranks on his siblings twice a week and goofs off in class… you are surprisingly very studious."

Surprised that his companion had said more than two words, Logan grinned and scratched the back of his head self-consciously. "Lucky for you that we're partnered together in a class I actually have an interest in," he replied in his mischievous tone. "If this were math or something I'd definitely be bringing your grade down."

She simply stared at him curiously, still wondering at his lighthearted demeanor.

"Hey, I'm just about done with this last analysis. What about you?" He was talking as he wrote the last few lines of his half of the report.

Raven was very surprised that he had been able to get so much work done in the midst of a steady commentary but decided not to waste energy commenting on it. "I have another paragraph or two that I want to add," she replied simply, turning her attention completely back to her work.

"Oh, okay then I think I'll get something to drink from one of the vending machines while you finish up." Beast Boy finished writing the last words of his concluding sentence before standing with a satisfied sigh. "Meet me outside when you're done, 'kay? I'm really looking forward to that pizza!"

With a grin, Beast Boy happily left an unresponsive Raven scribbling away at her extra credit work. He felt a keen sense of accomplishment that he was able to show up without much notice and write a professional lab report – well, half a lab report – in less than an hour.

"I really am great, aren't I," a full fledged grin was now stretched across his face. His feet took him automatically to the Fruit Works™ vending machine where he closed his eyes in satisfaction as he insert his dollar. He blindly selected one of the super sweet fruit drinks and heard the tell-tale sound of the drink falling to the bottom compartment. As he bent over to reach in and get his bottle, though, Beast Boy suddenly felt something brush against him from behind.

"Ahh!" He shouted somewhat hysterically as he whipped around and backed into the vending machine.

He was greeted with the unpleasant yet familiar sight of beach blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes.

"Hey BB," Terra greeted with a smile and a mischievous chuckle. "I've been looking for you… where ya been?"

Beast Boy tried to calm the erratic beating of his heart. What the heck was Terra doing here after school hours? And more importantly… "Umm, did you just grab my left butt cheek?"

Terra broke into a fit of laughter. "Oh, God, Beast Boy you are so _hila_rious! You should've seen your face after I did, though… priceless!" she continued to giggle off her fit of glee.

Beast Boy was not seeing the humor in all this. "Terra, what are you doing here?" he demanded, clearly annoyed.

The smile slowly slipped from her face as she watched him cross his arms, waiting for an answer. "I already told you, BB. I transferred schools."

"Uh-huh, why to _this_ school, Terra? You're not Catholic and you hate private schools."

"What are you trying to accuse me of here, BB? Why not just say it?" Her whole demeanor had drastically changed. Her blue eyes were narrowed and piercing into him; her lips scrunched up with her disapproval.

"Why are you and Slade following me again?" he demanded.

Terra smirked. "There," she stated, "That's better. I hate when people don't just speak their minds."

Beast Boy merely glared, awaiting a response to his question.

"BB, c'mon, you and I have a history. There's no one who will ever understand you the way I do," as she said this in a soft, cajoling voice, she began inching closer to him. "Think about it, babe, who else would be with you in spite of what you did?"

"That's none of your concern, Terra," Beast Boy seethed. "And furthermore, I thought I settled this with you two when I left California? I'm not part of that life anymore. You chose to stay by Slade's side and that's where it ended!"

"Aww, BB, don't be like that…," Terra slowly moved her hands up his solidly crossed arms. "You knew it could never be that easy."

Logan glared directly into her eyes. "What does your brother want?"

Terra snorted softly. "You think that, all of a sudden, Slade started telling me about the inner workings of his mind? Get real, BB. I was just dragged along for the ride, as usual. I came looking for you on my own… Slade has nothing to do with how I feel about you."

Terra reached up to gently place a kiss on his mouth and Logan didn't move. She gently brushed her lips against his and smiled hopefully at him as she leaned back. There was a very obvious blush covering his face but unfortunately for her there was also a very serious look in his eyes.

"Terra." He carefully held eye-contact to make sure she knew how serious he was. "I don't feel the same way about you anymore." He grabbed her shoulders and stiffly moved her aside so that he had enough room to walk away before slowly making his retreat in the wake of her sudden silence.

He felt no satisfaction in saying those words. In fact, he felt like complete scum. As soon as he'd said the words, something in her eyes had clearly broken into pieces.

* * *

As Raven was closing the door to the library, she turned to see Beast Boy coming around a corner with a solemn look on his face. She said nothing as he continued to approach her.

"Hey," he said, "you ready?"

She mutely nodded her head, shifting her messenger bag on her shoulder as she turned and began to walk with him to the parking lot.

"I borrowed my mom's car so you can just show me how to get there," he suggested in a dull tone.

Raven raised an eyebrow at his odd behavior. "Umm… sure…," she mumbled. She continued to look at him from the corner of her eye in slight bewilderment. This guy went through emotions like a toddler, she thought incredulously. One minute he's angry, the next happy/content, and now he's… what? Depressed?

"Uh… are you okay?" she finally asked in her usual monotone as he stopped in front of a dark gray Audi. "Did the vending machines steal your money or something?"

"No," he sighed, "I don't think I wanna talk about it right now."

Raven nodded and slipped into the passenger seat without another word. Beast Boy gave her turned head a slight smile of appreciation before closing her door and walking over to the driver side.

"We're headed for Lil' Nina's Pizzeria. It's an outdoor café in the middle of the city," Raven said as he got in and started the engine.

"Best pizza in town?" Beast Boy asked.

"So Gray keeps telling me. I haven't actually tested it for myself. I've been meaning to try it out, though."

"Sounds good. Just point me there."

The ride took them fifteen minutes, mostly because St. Gabriel's was somewhat isolated from the rest of the city. But by the time they reached, and Logan managed to parallel park his mother's Audi, the whole incident with Terra was all but forgotten. He was trying extra hard to put the incident out of his mind and focus on Raven and her urgent need for leisure activity.

"Dude, I could probably eat sandpaper and think it's cuisine right now. I'm _so_ hungry!"

Raven smiled and hesitantly took his offered hand to help her out of the car. She ignored the slight tingly sensation she felt when Logan idly rubbed his thumb over her knuckles before letting go.

"Well?" he demanded excitedly, "Lead the way. My stomach can't wait much longer."

With a shake of the head, she led him to the entrance of Lil Nina's. The inside of the café was designed like an old-fashioned Italian kitchen. There were pizzas baking in a large brick oven, wine racks adorning an entire stone wall, and real grape vines growing against another.

The scintillating smells mingling in the quaint little kitchen had Logan's mouth watering and a huge grin spread across his face. The hostess escorted them outside to a patio table on a terrace and handed them menus with a warm smile.

"Take your time to look through our menu, your waiter should be over in a few minutes," the hostess said before returning to the front of the restaurant.

Beast Boy looked around at their surroundings for a minute before glancing at Raven over his menu. "This place is great!" he exclaimed. "Kinda feels like I'm visiting my grandmother or something." He gave a slightly forced laugh after realizing what he'd said. "Well… if I _had_ a grandmother. I guess she wouldn't be Italian even if I did, though."

Raven smiled and glanced down at her menu.

Beast Boy fought the urge to kick himself for saying unnecessary things. Why was he suddenly nervous? His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he watched his companion calmly glance over the food and drink selections.

"So, uh… what're you ordering?" he asked, just to fill the silence.

Raven's eyes met his over their menus and for a moment she said nothing. Then she suddenly glanced back down at her choices. "Oh, right," she said quickly. "I was just going to go for an extra cheese with pepperoni and olives. What about you?"

Beast Boy grinned happily. "Extra cheese, green peppers, mushrooms, and olives!"

Raven looked up at him again and couldn't help a small smirk forming at yet another Logan Garfield mood change. "I take it food makes you happy," she commented sardonically.

"_Very_ happy," Beast Boy exclaimed with a vigorous nodding of the head.

The waiter came over then and took both of their drink and food orders before leaving to put in their ticket, taking the menus with him.

"So when are you turning that extra credit work in, anyway?" Beast Boy asked conversationally. He hadn't bothered to ask when Raven had mentioned it to him earlier that day. She'd only spared enough time to tell him that she was going to complete it after school.

"I'm turning it in Monday morning," she answered. She was looking around at the terrace and the random people passing on the busy city streets below. Basically, looking anywhere but directly at him.

"I guess it's just your style to get it out of the way before the weekend, huh?"

Raven nodded absently and took a sip of water.

Beast Boy gave up on trying to start idle conversation and turned his own attention to the downtown Gotham streets. The people here look a lot less happy than the people in California, he thought idly. There were a lot of men wearing slightly wrinkled business suits with their ties undone, apparently on their way home after a hectic day. Women were carrying their heels in one hand, briefcases in the other, as they trekked home in sneakers that clashed horribly with their business clothes.

Definitely not like California, he thought nostalgically. No tank tops and Bermuda shorts here. No beaches, no warm ocean breeze…. Thinking about California made him think about the people he'd met there. And thinking about the people he met there made him think about a certain blonde, blue-eyed beauty that he had once thought he was so in love with...

Beast Boy frowned and rested his chin on a perched fist. There was no use fighting the urge to think about his ex. Most of his memories involving California centered on her in some form or the other; good memories _and_ bad memories. Then again… he hadn't met Terra in California had he? No, he'd been involved with her long before then….

He sighed despondently. He'd done a lot of stupid things back then… Most of which he knew would cause his mother grief. He didn't know what he would do if his new family found out about what he'd been involved with from New York to California. It was eating him up inside just thinking about it.

"Hey."

Beast Boy snapped his attention back to the present and his eyes met the slightly concerned dark-blue, amethyst eyes of Raven Roth. She has the most gorgeous eyes, he thought idly.

"You okay?" she asked gently.

Logan shook his head to clear it. "Umm… yeah, I'm cool."

"You looked a little troubled." She stared directly at him without pretense and he realized that she was offering her full, undivided attention.

Beast Boy smiled hesitantly. "Well I don't know how you Catholic kids always manage to look so _un_troubled but I can't control my facial expressions that well." The weak joke did absolutely nothing to hide how his green eyes darted around evasively.

She quirked an eyebrow at him as he shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

Raven decided to take pity on him and not press the issue of what had him so troubled. Clearly Logan Garfield was not a shy individual; if he wanted to talk he would talk. "So is Simon still mad at you?" she ventured blandly. She wasn't used to idle chit-chat, let alone _starting_ idle chit-chat.

"Who?" Logan asked, meeting her eyes again in confusion. Then, he quickly processed her random question. "Oh! You mean Cy!" He smiled at her abashedly. "Yeah, he's still upset about the locker incident. That's why mom let me borrow the car. He really needs to learn how to appreciate a good prank, though. I mean, think about it! As long as Cy and I have been brothers, I've undoubtedly pranked him over a hundred times! And yet I _still_ manage to catch him by surprise _every_ time… that takes _talent_!"

Raven half-smiled at his full blown rant. It doesn't take much to distract him does it, she thought with half amusement, half irony.

Once Beast Boy got on the topic, there was no stopping him. The conversation turned to the ten best pranks he'd ever pulled on his siblings. Even Raven had to stop herself from bursting out in laughter at some of his stories. Their food came and Raven stared in amazement as Beast Boy nearly brought himself to tears in praising how wonderful his pizza tasted. They lingered at the restaurant for another hour, Beast Boy managing to continue his entertaining monologue as he scarfed down a whole pizza and Raven eating two slices of hers and boxing the rest.

The waiter brought them the check and Beast Boy snatched it from the table when he saw her reaching for it. "Relax, Rae, I'm treating," he stated simply.

She tried to stop him but he simply waved his hand at her dismissively. "Least I could do. I mean you did get snarky Dr. Barkley to give us some extra credit work."

She quirked a skeptical eyebrow at him. "You didn't seem so receptive to the idea earlier."

"Oh that?" Beast Boy glanced up from counting what was in his wallet. "I was just angry at a little bit of everything. I hope you don't take it personal, Rae."

"Is that an apology?"

"Depends," he smirked mischievously. "Do you forgive me?"

Raven couldn't help the slight smile that came over her face. This guy was just too amusing. "You're forgiven," she sighed and rolled her eyes to cover her reaction.

"Great!" Beast Boy jumped up and placed a wad of cash on the table. "We should get going before we're too late."

Raven was more than a little confused when Beast Boy offered her his hand. She hesitantly took it and caught his attention with her questioning gaze once she was on her feet. "Late?" she asked, "Late for what?"

Beast Boy grinned as he led her back through the restaurant. "You've forgotten already? There's a party tonight, Rae!"

Three things registered in Raven's mind as she was led back to the car. 1) yes, she had in fact forgotten all about the football-cheerleaders semi-annual pep extravaganza, 2) Beast Boy was becoming entirely too accustomed to referring to her as 'Rae,' and 3) Beast Boy either didn't realize it or didn't see anything wrong with the fact that he was still holding her hand….

* * *

**A/N: **I'm so sorry this update took so long guys. Let's just say that I can't make any promises on an exact time frame in the future. I've just started a new job that I absolutely love… but the downside is that it's an hour and a half drive to get there and another hour and a half to get back. All in all, I'm left with very little leisure time to enjoy writing like I so badly want to. Please don't be mad!

Anywho, tell me what you think so far. This chapter didn't progress as much as I thought it would but I usually just go with the flow and hope it turns out okay. Thanks a bunch to all who have reviewed so far. I take everything you guys say into consideration, really, so feel free to point out whatever… .


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